Dancing through Flames
by Lazersword88
Summary: In the crime filled city of Philadelphia, Phil Angelo and his rag tag team of teenage ex-secret police force operatives must combine their strengths in order to stop the city from crumbling as gangsters, corrupt organizations, zombies and the friends they thought they could trust strive to bring the proud city to its knees. Who can you trust in a world where nothing is as it seems?
1. Introduction and OC Submission

Hey there everyone, Lazersword88 here! I'm looking forward to starting my first story ever. First here's a little about me. I'm a college student and I do a lot of club sports. I just got into anime this semester because of good friend of mine. Feel free to PM, I really like helping people with concepts, getting advice for my own writing or just chatting. Plus if you give me inspiration I'll probably get chapters out faster.

This will be a High School of the Dead fan fiction with OCs from you guys. That being said, I hope to take this story in a different direction than your average story in this universe. Let me get a few things about the concept and disclaimers out of the way. The bulk of the story will take place 3 months after z day, but there will be semi-frequent flashbacks to past events including z-day and before. While zombies will be a constant threat as always, anyone who has survived this long is semi-capable. This story will have a heavy emphasis on conversation, relationships and combat. Friends will be made and lost. People will be betrayed. There will be about as many fights between OCs as there will be against zombies. On a completely separate note, while I will try to keep things semi-realistic, some of the action may get over the top (sort of like the original series or your average anime).

Now it's time for the disclaimers. I don't own High School of the Dead or their characters. Some characters from the main series may appear in the story. All OC characters that I'm using that are not my own belong to the users who sent them in. Also, events in the stories in no way reflect my political or religious views. They are just concepts that I'm using for fun in the story and are by no means meant as an insult to anyone.

Now here are the characters that are already in the story. Here's the list:

Accepted:

Phil Angelo/Lane Easton/? (Lazersword89)

Rexan Tsuki (rexan tsukino)

? (Awesomestprime8)

Rikio Hiroshi (RicBP)

Aito Hakagame (SSJ5 Kiezan)

Possible:

Alice White (PG), need permission to use character but fits into the story well.

Horus Issac (Lazersword89)

Korina Adachi/Ikki Adachi/Emiko Nagasaki (Fairylust)

The characters above are either characters I like or of people who let my characters into their stories. Since I already have characters to work with, I can start my story without having to wait for applications. As I get characters that I like I can think of creative ways to add them into the story.

Here is my OC(s):

Name: Phil Angelo (alive) and Lane Easton (angel)

Age: Both would be 18 (Lane died at age 17)

Birthday: 11/7/94 (Phil), 12/3/94 (Lane)

Nationality: Both American

Ethnicity: (Phil) Italian/German, (Lane) Belgian/German

Family members: (Phil) mother and father deceased, doesn't care about the rest of his family because they abandoned him and treat him like he doesn't exist. (Lane) While she was alive she hated her family for treating her like an object only there to please themselves (more on that later)

Personality: (Phil) Phil is a very selfless person, willing to put his life on the line for others. Part of this is due to the fact that Phil has had to live with the deaths of his parents and his girlfriend (Lane), whom he was closer to than anyone. He doesn't want to see anyone else have to suffer the things that he has had to. He has a moral obligation to try to save anyone who is in danger and will blame himself should he fail. However he won't be saddened by deaths, he will just use them as even more motivation for him to protect others. Even though sad things have happened to him and he carries moral obligations, he is still a very positive person and always has a grin on his face. He believes in not living in fear and facing problems head on. Phil has no problem even killing another human if they threaten others, because he has been cleaning up the streets where lives for long before z-day even happened. Phil always has a confident grin or smile on his face, always finding ways to get a chuckle or smile out of others with his witty, sarcastic sense of humor. Phil thinks very strategically, always having a back-up plan. Phil is a competent leader, but he prefers more of a second in command gig in case he has to run off for a bit to save someone. Phil's actions have a way of inspiring others. Phil would do anything to help Lane, except risk other lives. He trusts and loves her very much. Phil picks the people he trusts very carefully, and is good at picking up on lies. Phil is a good listener and has good advice for people. He while cautious in his actions, Phil is uncomfortable sitting in one place for too long.

(Lane) Like Phil, she is very confident women. Since she is dead and only Phil can see her (for now maybe), she sometimes feels a little lonely and wonders what it would be like to live again. However, she truly loves Phil and wants him to live on for the both of them. Her top five priorities are: help Phil and his friends stay alive, find out if there is a way she can come back to life, find out why she is a ghost and only Phil can see her, find out what or who killed her, and see if there is anyone else out there that can see her. Whenever she is around Phil, she feels complete. Like Phil, Lane has no mercy in combat. She appears before Phil during the day to let him know things that are vital and they spend their time in dreams together.

History: Phil was born an orphan, since his mother died in conceiving him and his father subsequently committed suicide because of her death. Phil, while a smart young boy, always got into fights. However he only got into fights to stick up for people being bullied. He made a few good friends at the orphanage but I he didn't feel really happy because he thought they only were obligated to be friendly with him because they had been helped by him. Rather than opting for adoption at age 14, he set out on his own to make it into the world. Because of his local reputation, he received a unique offer. By day he was a top student at the local high school who did many sports like tennis and track, but by night he was being trained in many different hand to hand combat types as a part of a secret police group training high school students. After a half a year of this Phil had developed his uniquely effect fighting style, which is a mix of krav maga, kickboxing and street fighting. He was then sent to integrate in with local gangs of thugs as a special agent to take them down from within. In exchange, Phil made enough money to afford a small condo on the outskirts of town. However, Phil was too good at his secret job and his reputation became so great that any gang the police sent him to become part of wouldn't be fooled. Phil moved on from the old group and became an off the books police contractor on the side. However Phil wouldn't take any assignments that involved hurting innocents or killing people. One day after a particularly long mission while Phil was visiting his parent's grave, he heard members of a gang he thought he broke up trying to take advantage of a young woman. However the woman, who is Lane, was holding her own very well using her fencing skills. Phil still went and helped her. The two fought side by side until all but one of the thugs was left standing. Phil realizes the thug was going to throw his knife at Lane, who had her back turned. Phil used himself as a shield to save her. After the last thug is downed, Lane can't understand why Phil did this because no one had ever done anything selfless for her before. Everyone who helped her had always only been interested in her parent's money, yet Phil saved her without knowing who she was. Lane rushed to the hospital, carrying Phil on her back and making it just in time to save him. In order to save Phil, Lane had to give blood in a transfusion, with both of them being blood type o. After Phil finally recovered from near death, they formed a close friendship, which quickly became romance. They were both truly the happiest they had ever been with each other. Phil finally felt that he had someone who loved him for who he was and not what he did. Meanwhile, Lane finally had someone who loved her for who she was and not because they were trying to get something from her parents through her. Before they became boyfriend and girlfriend, Phil warned Lane of the danger that might befall her because of what Phil had done before, but Lane told him that dying with him would be more fulfilling then living alone. Lane taught Phil all she knew about fencing and Phil taught Lane many martial arts. They traveled all over the world together on breaks from school using Lane's parent's money gifts to her. They both lived together in Phil's condo because she wanted to be away from her family and with him. This happy relationship came to a sudden end after about three years when Lane was killed. The police claimed she was hit by a car but Phil suspects something else might have happened. In her will, Lane leaves Phil her fencing sabers and a note. The note reads "take these sabers and fulfill both of our dreams. I will always be by your side." Phil always carries two of the fencing swords with him, holstered to his belt almost all the time, even in school. The two swords were the ones that Lane and Phil used when they competed against each other and weren't practice swords but actual rapier sabers. Phil continued to develop his fencing skills and became one of the best fencers in the country and one of the three best in his age group, aided by his martial arts/combat experience. For his contracts he developed a unique dual wielding fencing style he currently uses along with martial arts. After a while Lane started to appear before Phil in his dreams and sometimes in real life in dire situations. Though she is dead, her spirit is very much alive to him in his blood and swords. When the zombies attacked, he was one of the few who were not at all fazed by them. In his time as a secret agent of the police he had seen things far worse than zombies. He sets out to save as many of his friends as he could.

Appearance: Phil is tall at 6'4", weighs 190 lbs., has muscular legs and trim, muscled upper body, tan skin, brown eyes and brown medium length curly hair. Lane is 6' even, 140 lbs., slender muscled body, medium sized breasts, trim waistline, white skin slightly tanned, green glowing eyes, brown hair flowing to shoulder length, looks very attractive, wears a white dress in both dreams and real life visions. During Phil's dreams she can be seen with a halo and white-gray angel wings.

Sexuality: Both straight. Lane allows Phil to date other girls while she is not alive in an attempt to relieve him of some of the pain he feels. Phil likes a girl who is tough and doesn't need constant saving. Phil also loves girls who love him for who he is and not what he does. He is not a pervert but he is not shy when talking to girls and even if he is not in a relationship with them, he cares about them and their feelings. He is even willing to step in on someone's behalf if they are getting harassed. Lane is solely interested in Phil and once he Phil figures out how to get Lane back he feels the same way.

Special attributes/abilities: Phil can syphon some of Lane's power in times of need when he is pushed to the brink. His eyes glow bright green like Lane's and his strength and speed get a significant boost, but are still within human parameters. Lane has the ability to aid anyone who can see her in combat by briefly possessing them, as long as they are willing to let her in. Their eyes glow green while possessed.

Likes: (Phil) Lane, a good fight, real friends, Italian food, adventuring/exploring, meeting new people, saving people, smiles on strangers faces, fencing, tennis, track/field, the Caribbean, women who are strong.

(Lane) Phil, fencing, being away from her family, exploring, music, cooking, dogs, sports, feeling alive and free.

Dislikes: (Phil) People dying, people who let others die, chocolate, super spicy food, Lane being dead, liars and untrustworthy people, big dogs, cramped places, the cruel truth of this new world

(Lane) Being dead, people not remembering her, being lonely, watching Phil suffer, snakes, big bites

Weaknesses: Phil has an obsessive desire to save lives and the risks he takes to save people put him in danger from time to time. Usually his combat skills help him immensely, but from time to time going off to save people separates him from the group and puts them in more danger too until he gets back. Lane is already dead, but her desire to help Phil and return to life sometimes has negative consequences.

Strengths: (Phil) hand to hand cqc, fencing, swordsmanship, speed, footwork, dexterity, parrying, battle tactics, cooking (with advice/help from Lane), marksmanship, keeping the peace in a group

(Lane)- Fencing, thrown projectiles, cooking, peace keeping, slight foresight being an angel, speed, dodging, footwork, bow marksmanship

Weapon(s): (Phil) Dual fencing rapier sabers (primary, school weapon), halberd (heavy melee weapon with lance body, spear tip and axe and hammer sides of tip), bow/arrow/lighter, MP5SD suppressed submachine gun. (Lane, if alive) rapier fencing saber, throwing knives, repeating crossbow

Clothes:

(Phil): Black fencing protective jacket, fencing helmet with neck guard (worn during combat, otherwise worn like a hood), Oakley shade (worn out of combat), dark blue jeans, running shoes, belt with saber holsters sown into it, red t-shirt (worn under jacket)

(Lane): Not alive, wears white dress when in visions. If she is back to life, she wears dark blue jeans, dark green girls t shirt with a white fencing jacket unzipped overtop and white sneakers, Oakley shades like Phil.

Nicknames: (Phil) Angel (nickname from orphanage), wandering death (nickname given by gangs he destroyed)

(Lane) Easton's girl, Lay (by Phil occasionally)

Fighting Styles:

Phil: When Phil fights he wields both his fencing swords in a semi open stance (right foot forward, chest angled about 45 degrees to my left from the target. Phil can vary how he holds his sabers depending on his current needs. He can wield both blades forward. He can still stab well but he losses effectiveness in slashing. In return he can block with his two blades, parry or dodge. He can shift his left hand blade backwards for more slashing capability, but he loses the ability to block. If he wields both blades behind him, it makes his attacks faster and more deadly but his only form of defense is dodging. Even with his sabers, Phil still can utilize his kick boxing or krav maga throws. Phil likes to light his arrows for his bow on fire to exploit the zombie's vulnerability to fire. Phil won't use non silenced guns and even so enjoys using blades or a bow more.

Lane: (if she has her own form back) Lane utilizes a traditional closed fencing stance (shoulder and blade hand towards target) and wields one saber. In her off hand she throws or stabs with throwing knives which are stored on her left hip. She mostly stabs, parries and blocks with her saber while her knives are her primary offense.

Theme Music: Dash Berlin- Disarm yourself (club mix)

Phil will be the main character of the story. However, every character I accept will have a chapter(s) told from their perspective and I want to give every character the development and attention to detail that they deserve.

Here is the OC application:

Name:

Age: Between 13-19 years old please

Birthday:

Nationality:

Ethnicity:

Family members: Status (alive, deceased, zombie, unknown, other?) and brief description of relationship with your character.

Personality: Be very descriptive, I have to know how to make them act. The more interesting the character seems, the higher chance I will use them. I understand that suffering builds character but don't make your character's life up to now awful. Either give them some happy and redeeming traits or some way to grow/evolve as a character.

History: Like with personality, be very descriptive. Also, come up with a creative yet believable story of past events that could have relevancy to the universe

Appearance: Height, weight, body build, skin tone, eye color, hair color/length/style, female characteristics (if female, cup size ect…)

Sexuality: I'm cool with anything you get and I'll try to match up a few characters based on their personality and sexuality.

Special attributes/abilities: Any skills or abilities, as long as they aren't super powers. For example, you can't give a character mind reading, but you can give them above average awareness (something that can be explained)

Likes:

Dislikes:

Weaknesses: Come up with one or two (or more) good weaknesses. Nobody's perfect.

Strengths: Any helpful qualities or talents possessed by the character.

Weapon(s): Include school weapons (be unique, but nothing to that you couldn't get at a school) and multiple weapon options for the group leaves the school.

Clothes: No school uniform, but dress code in school. Nothing to super obscene or revealing worn at school. After school you can give your oc another set of clothes if you want.

Nicknames:

Fighting Styles: Be very descriptive here. Unless your OC is a noncombatant, you need to fill this out. If they are a noncombatant, describe how they assist the group here. Otherwise, give me a detailed description of your characters fighting style with all weapons they wield and how they acquired the skills to wield said weapon (should the weapon require skills to operate) if you didn't say how in the character history.

Reaction to Phil Angelo: Be descriptive.

Theme music: Optional but it would be cool

Phil will be the main character of the story. However, every character I accept will have a chapter(s) told from their perspective and I want to give every character the development and attention to detail that they deserve. As I mentioned before the original characters will probably make appearances, but there will be no original x OC, just OC x OC. I've decided that the story will be set in Philadelphia.

You can submit characters via review or PM. I would prefer PM because you have more room to be descriptive with your applications. I check my account every few hours and I can quickly decide whether your character is in, possibly in or not in the story. Each person can submit up to three OCs if you please, however I will only put in two characters max from one person and two characters from the same person can't be in a relationship.

I hope to hear from you with your characters! I'm shooting to get the first two chapters up by Tuesday (hopefully). This story will be long (30-50 chapters most likely) and I'm going to keep OC applications open until near then end. I'm looking for a 15-20 characters in the story until around the end. Feel free to PM me. Until then Lazersword88 signing off!

*P.S. – I need a few (2-3) characters to be members of the secret police group that Phil is a part of in his backstory. I also need one or two more characters to be living in the same orphanage Phil did when he was younger. This may give your OC a better shot if they are close to making the story.


	2. Chapter 1: A Gang, a Girl and a Gift

Hello again everybody, Lazersword88 here ready to start this story off. Please feel free to continue submitting your characters, write reviews, follow the story or just PM me about any questions you may have. I plan to try to write a chapter a day until more major college work comes up.

Here is the current list of characters that are in the story so far. I can say I've been very happy about the quality of the characters being sent in, but I don't like how few have been sent in. So spread the word! Tell your friends to submit characters here.

Here's the list:

Phil Angelo, Lane Easton, ?, Horus Issac (Lazersword88)

Rexan Tsuki (rexan tsukino)

Casper Tapely (Awesomestprime8)

Rikio Hiroshi (RicBP)

Aito Hakagame (SSJ5 Kiezan)

Alice White (PG)

Korina Adachi/Ikki Adachi/Emiko Nagasaki (Fairylust)

Noah Calle (AWESOME AUSSIE GIRL)

Alistar Blackwood (Assassin4life)

Layla Witherspoon (Patty Loves Giraffes)

Sophia Nguyen (AbnormalAzn)

Syth "Karakashi" Palador (SythOfOrganizationXIII)

Saya Korugashi (JBOSS1012)

This brings our total number of OCs to 18, but I'm still looking for more. I'm looking for about 20 characters in the story at a time. The road these characters are going to travel will be a perilous one. Characters will be hurt, separated and even killed by the zombies or each other. New team members (or enemies) may emerge along the way. When a good new character is accepted with 20 or more character already in the story, the weakest link will die. However, I will slow down the rate at which characters are accepted because I don't want half my cast dying in one chapter. Now let's get on to the first chapter of the story.

(P.S: This was originally supposed to be the first three chapters of the story. I decided to just make it one long chapter because it wouldn't flow as well with cliffhangers. Plus I'd like much rather there only be 2-3 chapters before the zombies appear then 5-6)

It's also worth noting that before Phil met Lane, he didn't use his fencing swords in combat. He is still a good fighter though working with the secret police and all.

Chapter 1: A Gang, a Girl and a Gift

The sun started to rise over the faces of the hills, illuminating the small shore cove below. A young man looked onward into the vast ocean as the bright sun shimmered off the top off the crystal clear, 70 degree water. As he looked around the small cove he knew that this had to be a dream, because after what had happened three months ago, the only excuse for lying around all day was that you were dead. As the warmth of the newly rising sun coursed over his body, the man reached for the ocean bottom, reaching around for something. If he wasn't alone on this beach, the 6'4" tan young man with the curly hair would probably be getting some secretive stares since he didn't look too bad with no shirt. He finally found what he was looking for on the ocean bottom. Standing up once again, the man sorted through the pile of sand and rocks in his hand until he was only holding a few flat pieces of coral. One at a time, he skipped the stones across the calm Caribbean waters. He saved the best stone for last.

Grinning confidently, he says "Let's see if I can beat my all-time best "as he winds his arm back.

Throwing and spinning the rock with all of his strength, he releases the stone and it skips far off into the distance. As he watched the skipping stone disappear into the distance he realized it had been a long while since he and his friends had a few moments of simple, thoughtless happiness.

"Nine skips! That must be some kind of record even for you Phil" a voice behind Phil said.

Phil turned around to see that he was no longer all alone on the beach. A young brown haired woman stood just outside the reach of the gentle waves on shore. She is tall at about 6' and has longer brown hair which flows down slightly past her shoulders. She has bright green eyes, slightly tan skin and a confident smile on her pretty face. She is wearing an all-white bikini top, which cover her medium sized breasts, and a matching bikini bottom. Wrapped up behind her back she had angel's wings and a small halo dimly glowed as it floated a few inches above her head.

"It's been three days since you've visited me" Phil said, smiling. "I missed you".

"I missed you too, handsome" Lane Easton said as she walked into the water while looking Phil deep in the eyes.

All of a sudden, Lane jumped on top of Phil and knocked them both underwater. When they came up for air both Lane and Phil laughed.

"If you can tackle like that maybe you should have done girl's rugby instead of fencing" Phil joked. Lane giggled for a moment before saying "I would never give up fencing. Besides, you're the only one I want to hold onto". They both blushed slightly before Phil wrapped his arms around Lane and pulled her in for a brief kiss. Even after they broke the kiss, Lane still hung onto Phil as they stared out into miles of ocean in front of them illuminated by the early morning sun.

In time Phil remembered that this was a beach on St. John (US Virgin Islands) that he and Lane had visited when they started dating. Lane's parents were very wealthy and let us travel together during breaks from school. Lane insisted that we travel without her family because she didn't like the way the treated her. Phil's parents died before even got to know them. His mother died conceiving him, her first child. Phil's father became very depressed and committed suicide a few days later. However, Phil had long moved on from his parents. His current concern was his friend's safety and the girl with her arms around him currently.

The two sat down on the beach, held hands and were just happy to be around one another. Phil noticed that Lane's eyes suddenly flashed an even brighter green for a moment while she was looking at him. "What was that?" Phil asked. "I'm just looking at your memories" Lane replied. "I want to see what's happened to your group of friends since the last time we met in a dream like this". After a moment or two of silence, Phil hears Lane laughing a bit to herself. "Find something funny?" Phil asked. "It's just how interesting how much a few of your friends have changed" she says. "Like the Black Mask…" "Oh you mean Rikio" Phil corrected. "He's changed a ton since this started and unlike most people, he actual became more human because of the zombies. That reminds me, you said that you met him the night I met you, but what exactly happened between you two" Phil said, his interested piqued. "Sure. I can tell you if you want to know" Lane said. "It all started the day we met…"

3 years before Z-day Central Cemetery, Philadelphia 1AM

Phil walked along the quiet and dark city roads alone. A small street gang up the road started to walk towards him like they wanted trouble but then they got a better look at face. Realizing who it was, they all ran into the nearest alley with a fearful looks on their faces. _I guess my reputation precedes me_, Phil thought as he walked past where they were hiding on the way to his destination. Pushing open the rusted metal gate, Phil walked into the much neglected cemetery. This being one of the most crowded cemeteries in the city, it was hard for Phil to find the grave he was looking for even though he knew where to look. He eventually found the graves he was looking for. Removing the thin layer of dust from the grave, he read the gravestone aloud. "Martin and Helen Angelo. Lovers, parents and friends". Kneeling down, he set two roses he had been carrying in his pocket next to the grave.

"Sorry I haven't visited in a while. I feel like my job is trying to kill me sometimes" Phil said sarcastically. "I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if you were alive".

Phil was going to say more, but he heard commotion back from the road he had walked down. _Looks like I'll have to take out this trash again, _he thought as he ran to where he heard the noise. He was about a block from all the noise when suddenly a young man in a black tee-shirt, tan cargo shorts and a black baseball hat with white trim walked out from one of the alleys and blocked Phil's path. He was holding a baseball bat and a pistol grip stuck out of his pants pocket.

"These guys are paying me with way too much for me to let you interfere with them wanderer" the teen said, tossing a bag of what looked to be about a kilo of cocaine off to the side. _How does he know my street nickname from my secret police days, _Phil thought_._ "Well if it isn't Casper Tapely. At least you've saved me the trouble of tracking you down for the bounty on your head. How about you surrender easily so I can save the person up the road? I don't have a lot of time to waste on garbage like you" Phil said surprisingly nonchalantly. With this Casper burst out into laughter while twirling his baseball bat around. "Just who do you think you are their hotshot?" Casper said with a grin. "There's no way you're actually the real wanderer. He's an urban legend, nothing more. Although you do pull the look of well, you should understand these streets aren't a place for heroism. Chumps like you die every…"

In what seemed like an instant Phil dashed forward and was quickly in Casper's face. "Who said I was a fake?" Phil said, smiling ear to ear. Casper reacting mostly on instinct was just able intercept an oncoming high kick with his baseball bat, but the bat was flung away in the process. Panicking, Casper reached for the suppressed P99 in his pocket and tried to quickly draw it. However before he could raise the gun Phil already had a hold of his arm, saying "too slow". Phil started with a punch to Casper's chest which broke a few of his ribs. While Casper was reeling backwards Phil snapped Casper's wrist, torn the gun out of his hand and slammed him to the ground. Before Casper could try to get up Phil put the gun he had just acquired to its owners head. Though in severe pain, Casper still managed a laugh.

"That was some krav maga right? I guess you weren't such a chump after all" Casper said, spitting out some blood. "It doesn't matter though, you can't win".

Phil then heard a louder yell from whatever was happening a few blocks off. "You can either bring me in and let the girl die, or go to save her and let me go" he said, grinning convinced he'd won.

"I can't believe how quickly you forget that I'm the one with the gun to your head" Phil said grinning back. "I could just kill you and then move on to this girl you're talking about. How's that sound to you?"

With that Casper laughed hysterically. "You make me laugh" he said. "I looked through reports on you. They say you don't kill anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. Are you really going to go against your morals now?"

With this Phil stopped pinning Casper, stood up and kicked him hard in the head. Phil then walked over to where the bag of cocaine was laying and tossed the bag above Casper. He then shot the bag repeatedly while it was in the air over Casper with the P99 then watched as the cocaine poured over Casper and the ground near him. With the last bullet in the magazine he shot Casper in the leg and watched as he writhed in pain on the ground.

"Good luck explaining this to whoever finds you" Phil said with a slight laugh. "Consider this a warning. You'd best not cross paths with me again" he said as his expression got much more serious, frightening Casper as he tried to drag himself away. Phil started to walk away while separating the gun and magazine and tossing them in opposite directions. "Well, that was a nice distraction" Phil proclaimed. "Now I've got a girl to save. Make sure to spread some rumors about me" he said as he ran off towards the source of the sound.

_Dammit, I wasted way too much time on that druggy thug_, _even though he _was_ sort of strong_ Phil thought as he rushed towards the noises he heard. _I hope that girl Casper was talking about is ok._ When Phil finally saw what was causing all the commotion, he was shocked. About twenty five well-armed thugs were shaking in absolute fright. A girl wielding a fencing saber was encircled by. Five bloody and unconscious thugs were already sprawled at her feet. Not wasting any time, Phil dashed forward and knocked down the thugs in the way until he slid into the center of the circle.

The girl and everyone around her were shocked by my sudden appearance as I slowly walked toward the girl. Raising her sword in anticipation to strike she asked "are you one of those thugs?" "Trust me I'm not" Phil said showing her his hands, which were bloody from breaking Casper's ribs. "Why would my hands have my comrade's blood all over them?" Phil asked grinning. The girl started to laugh, withdrew her sword and returned my smile with one of her own. Phil hadn't realized how pretty the girl was until that moment and he blushed slightly as a result. "So what's the name of my knight in shining armor?" she asked sarcastically. "Hey! Be happy anyone is saving your ass right now" Phil said playfully. "By the way, call me Phil". "I like that name" the girl said, grinning confidently back. "I'm Lane".

"Hey who the hell is this guy?" said one of the thugs. "Wasn't Casper supposed to stop anyone trying to get here? We can't complete this kidnapping with every teenager who thinks they're a hero trying to stop us".

"Oh you mean that druggy trash whose ass I kicked" Phil said, with an almost sinister smile on his face.

Shocked, the thug said "that's impossible! Casper's one of our gang's strongest fighters. There is no way you could have beat him!"

"If you want to go check, he is lying in a bloody pile a block or two back" Phil said. "Don't worry I didn't kill him but he won't be messing with anyone for a long time".

A second thug looked startled all of a sudden. "Boss I think this guy is the wanderer! You know, the guy who roams the streets beating up gangs with his bare hands."

The first thug laughed at the thought of this. "There's no way that could be him. The wanderer is a myth, a legend! Only kids believe in that crap!"

"Want to find out if it's true or not?" Phil asked. He stepped forward towards the bulk of the guards. "Why don't you let me handle these guys Lane?"

Phil was surprised when Lane reached out and grabbed his hand. Looking him in the eyes, she said "I'm not going to let you take all the credit for beating these fools. They should have known what they were dealing with when they tried to kidnap a nationally ranked fencer. Hell, I bet I could take down more of them then you can."

"Now this is really getting good" Phil said with enthusiasm. "I'll accept your challenge on one condition. Whoever knocks less of these guys out has to buy the winner a milkshake after this." Lane smiled back. "Sounds like fun, you're on!"

With that the two charged the thugs encircling them. As Lane parried oncoming attacks and stabbed thugs in the chest, Phil grappled a thug and stole his pipe. Fighting back to back, the two were both attacking and blocking furiously as the thugs charged them. They split up again as Phil charged forward and knocked down two thugs with a single swing of his pipe. The next thug tried to draw a pistol on Phil, but he took it with a grapple similar to the one he used on Casper. He pocketed the pistol and beat down the rest of the thugs. After all of the combatants near him were downed, he pulled out his pistol and shoots the ground next to a few thugs who were down so that they would know to stay down.

Phil took a moment to catch up on breath after downing his fourteenth thug and then turned to see how Lane was doing. Lane had four thugs left to deal with. She was mostly blocking the oncoming attacks since she was again surrounded by enemies. Phil then sees a threat that she doesn't.

An older looking thug, who looked to be the leader of the gang, couldn't stand because Lane had stabbed through one of his legs. However, he was not unconscious. He was gripping a long curved knife with a ruby gemstone and was preparing to throw it at an unsuspecting Lane. Phil realized he wouldn't make it to the man in time to stop him from throwing it and this only left him with one option. Phil sprinted towards Lane as the thug threw the knife. He got in front of Lane at the last possible moment, but the knife hit him instead. It made impact near the lower right side of Phil's ribcage and plunged in a few inches deep. The impact and shock of getting hit by the knife caused Phil to fall backwards, knocking both Phil and Lane to the ground. Lane looked at a pained Phil on the ground in front of her and said "why? Why the hell would you save me?!" Tears rolled down her face as the remaining four thugs moved in to kill the two teens. "No…" Lane whimpered. "It can't end like this… it shouldn't… why is this happening?!"

Suddenly, a figure in a black mask stealthily approached the remaining thugs from behind and sunk a hatchet into one of their heads. When the others turned around to see what was happening the masked man pulled out a revolver a quickly and mercilessly dispatched the remaining thugs, even though some of them had surrendered and were begging for mercy.

Lane realizes Phil is unconscious and bleeding, so she wraps the area around the wound with her jacket. She sees that the knife is still in Phil and decides to leave it in him to help keep the wound closed. Meanwhile the mysterious masked man walks up to the man who had thrown the knife, still conscious and on the ground. Quickly reloading his revolver with fresh bullets, he snaps the cylinder back onto the gun with a flick of the wrist and then puts the gun to the man's head. "Are you the head of this gang?!" he shouted as he lifted the defenseless man into the air. He wrapped that hand around the man's throat and then placed the gun against his head with the other. "Depending on your answer, you may or may not be killed right here". "I'm… the leader, I swear! Please don't… shoot me!" The masked man pulls the trigger, sending blood flying everywhere. "Wrong answer" he said, dropping the headless body back on the ground.

The masked man then walked towards where Phil and Lane lay on the floor. Inspired by what Phil did to save her, Lane threw herself in front of Phil. "I won't let him hurt him anymore" she yelled as the masked man slowly approached. The masked man stops and takes aim with his revolver again. "It's not like you can do much to help him. His fate is in my hands now" the masked man said coldly. His finger press against the trigger and for a moment he felt like he was on the brink of firing. But then, the masked man remembers his time with Phil. He had been a member of the same secret police program that the city had employed as a tactic in breaking up dangerous street gangs from the inside. The masked man, whose name was Rikio, had been forced into joining because the alternative was going to juvenile prison for his violent actions. Phil on the other hand joined voluntarily as a means to protect people's lives and gain the money to live on his own. Even though Rikio was a murderer and had treated him like a jerk, Phil still cared about Rikio trying to befriend him and saving his life multiple times. Feeling emotional, a tear rolled down Rikio's face under his mask and onto his chin. Rikio, upset at himself for even considering killing Phil, threw the gun away.

"I should thank you two" the masked man said while walking back towards the dead gang boss. "You nearly did all of the work on this bounty for me". "What are you going to do now?" Lane asked, slightly angry. The masked man took out a camera and shot a few pictures of the dead boss and his lackeys. "I'm just getting the evidence I need. Then I'll leave you and your problems behind". After the masked man was finished gathering his proof, he turned and started to walk down the quiet street alone. "How could you be so inhuman?" Lane cried out. "You kill all those thugs with absolutely no second thought and now you leave him here to die. Do you even have a soul or do you need to hide how ugly it is behind a mask too?!"

Rikio stopped in his tracks. Deep inside him his emotions were conflicted. On one hand, he would be better off without helping them and would it would kill Phil, who could be a problem for him later. However, his conscious wouldn't let him turn his back on his dying former comrade. Eventually the mercy in his heart won. He turned around and walked back over to Lane who was still trying to control Phil's bleeding. He tossed her a pair of keys. "My car is parked one block up. Meet me at the docks tomorrow and I'll give you half the bounty money from this assignment in exchange for my car back" the mask man said, with a sad sounding voice. "Make sure he lives ok?" he said before walking off and not looking back.

When Phil wakes up, he realizes his surroundings are unfamiliar. After looking around a bit, he realizes he is in a hospital bed. He is a little hesitant at first to touch the part of his chest where the knife was stuck in, but he eventually looked and saw it was stitched up. Next he looked over at the table next to his bed. On it he saw a fresh milkshake and an envelope. _Ha-ha I guess she did remember I knocked out more of those guys then she did. It was really nice of her to get this for me _, he thought as he took a few sips of the shake and grabbed the envelope. The envelope was also from Lane. Inside it was a short note. Phil read it out loud quietly. "Dear Phil, if you're reading this note right now that means I couldn't be there when you woke up. Even though I don't know you very well, I think I really like you. You're the most selfless person I know and I would be glad to say a brave person like you is my friend. If you teach me some of those martial arts moves of yours then I can make you a great fencer. My number and address are on the envelope. Text me anytime. Love, Lane". Phil was sort of surprised to see that she wrote love there. He then saw there was a little more hastily written on the back of the card. "P.S. I have a present for you under your pillow". Phil reached under his pillow and found a picture. As soon as he saw the picture he blushed a ton. It was picture of Lane at the beach winking at the camera in nothing but a bikini top and bottom. The back said that the picture should help him recover faster. Phil couldn't help but laugh a little bit.

A shy young girl stood by the door of the hospital room and Phil had no idea she was standing there. This girls name is Layla Witherspoon. She was 11 years old and doing some volunteer work at the hospital when she got assigned the task of recording the vitals the nurse got from Phil while he was unconscious. Admittedly she thought she would enjoy working at the hospital more than she did, but it was one of the ideas she had for a future career. She did take a curious interest in Phil though. She knew Phil from the orphanage they both grew up at. She wondered what events could make a 15 year old boy get stabbed with a knife and she really wanted to ask him. However while mystified by him, she was also a little afraid of him. So she just stared at him from outside his room whenever she has breaks.

After a few more moments Phil notices Layla at his door. "Hey Layla, you need something?" "Oh… um… oh yea I wanted to tell you a few things" Layla said timidly. "I wanted to tell you that girl must really care about you. She would just lay there next to you in bed for hours on end. I wouldn't treat her badly if I were you". "Trust me, I don't plan on it" Phil said back with confidence. "Oh! I almost forgot" Layla said excited. She took a knife out of her pocket. "Whoa there! Wait… wasn't that the knife that was inside me?" Phil said curiously. "It sure was" Layla replied. "I offered it to Lane, but she said that she doesn't want it. Please give this to someone else you care about". After handing Phil the knife, Layla quickly scurried out of the room. Phil admired the knife, with its old steel shine now stained with his blood and slightly matching the color of the ruby in the handle. _I wonder who I'll give this to_, Phil thought.

End Flashback

Phil and Lane laid with each other on the beach as they finished comparing their stories of the fateful day. After that day the two started to hang out daily, becoming best friends. Phil learned fencing very quickly from Lane, becoming a nationally ranked fencer along with her in 6 months. Lane wasn't nearly as capable at learning hand to hand combat, Phil still enjoyed teaching her and Lane enjoyed learning. Eventually Lane revealed two secrets she was hiding from Phil. The first was that her last name was Easton. Her parents owned a large banking company so money wasn't a problem for her family. But Lane still hated her family. They acted like the only reason they cared about her was for the image it gave them. They never took the time to understand what she wanted. She never told Phil what her last name was because she didn't want him to be intimidated by her, which Phil was not either way. The second secret Lane told was Phil is that she loved him. Almost everyone else who is trying to help, be friends with or date Lane is just trying to use her to get to her parents fortune. She feels that Phil is the first person to love Lane for who she was and not what her parents.

Phil also had feelings for Lane. Since his days in the orphanage, he felt like the friends he had felt obligated to be friendly to him because he stuck up for them. Lane was one of the few friends he felt valued him for who he was. Before they became a couple, Phil told Lane all of the stories from when he was in Special Police Unit 781 and the danger his past involvement could put them both in, but it didn't seem to bother Lane one bit. So for two and a half years they dated. It took a lot to convince the Easton's to let Lane go to my public school and live most days with me in my small apartment, but we were able to do it nonetheless. The young adventurous couple would travel the world together and visit exhilarating and fun places like the beach in this dream. One day Lane tragically died in what the police say was a car accident, but Phil is not so sure he believes them. The story is that she was hit by a man running a red light, but when Phil observed Lane's body at her funeral, he didn't see any obviously broken bones. Lane left one last note for Phil on her will. It gave Phil possession of Lane's fencing sabers and urges him to pursue both of their dreams. The final part of the note says that she will always be with Phil, no matter where he goes. In a few months' time Phil was one of the country's best fencers. Also recently he has been able to communicate with a seemingly alive Lane who believes she is keeping her promise to always be with Phil. She thinks she is somehow still able to watch over Phil because of how close their bond was, despite the fact that Lane is an angel.

With Phil about to wake up, he and Lane are preparing to go their separate way. Suddenly, Lane remembers something important. "I almost forgot the entire reason I visited today" Lane said in a serious tone. "There is someone I want you to meet tomorrow if possible. He is an angel friend of mine who claims he knows a way to bring me back to life" Lane said with a joyful smile. Phil was absolutely stunned by possibility of what she was saying but he also needed to stay rational. "How sure are you that this guy isn't just making this up or trying to get something from you" Phil said. "He seems like a trustworthy enough friend to me. Besides his right to exist is on the line" she proclaimed. "Wait, what do you mean his existence is on the line? Could you explain this to me?" Phil said with confusion on his face. "So put simply, the amount of time you can exist in heaven before getting reincarnated is directly determined by how much people who are alive care or think about you" she explained. "If that system was not in place, heaven would become too crowded. The only exception to this rule are people in long term relationships who stayed faithful to each other. Since you're still living and have a close bond with me, I don't have to worry about my soul being recycled. However, my friend is running out time to exist since the last people who remember him are slowly forgetting, dying or becoming zombies. In exchange for helping to bring me back to life, he wants you to perform some actions that will extend his lifetime".

"Doesn't sound like a bad deal, but I want to hear this plan from the guy himself before I do anything" Phil said. "That's why he has requested a meeting with you for 5pm tonight at the Central Tavern on Market Street. He said for you to come alone for privacy purposes" she said reading the time and place multiple times so Phil wouldn't forget. "Wait, I'm all the way on the other side of town in the mansion district. That's pretty far away" I said confused. Lane look at Phil like he had a third head. "You're not sleeping at the mansion Phil. From what I can tell you're sleeping in one of the warehouses at the docks". Phil's eyes grew wide with fear. "I've got to wake up right now!" I yelled as a bright white flash engulfed the dreamscape and started to wake me up…

3 years before Z-day Near Central Cemetery, Philadelphia 3AM

"Curse you wanderer! You screwed up everything!" Casper Tapely yelled into the dead of the night. He couldn't pick his body up of the ground enough to stand up. Each time he would try he would just fall on his cracked ribs and make them hurt even worse. Even if someone did find him, there is no way he could go to the hospital covered in powdery white cocaine and a bullet wound in his leg. Slamming his good fist on the ground, Casper said "one day, I'll get my revenge on you wanderer. You wish you weren't born…"

Casper stop himself out of sheer panic as he saw a dark figure approach him down the alley he was hiding in. In the total darkness only a few things were recognizable. The figure carried two long knives and had bright red eyes. Casper trembled in the corner, unable to do anything as the dark figure stepped out into the light in front of him…

Who does Phil wind up giving the knife to? Who is this friend of Lane's whom she wants Phil to meet? Is it truly possible to bring Lane back? If so, then is I worth the sacrifice? What really happened to Phil during his time in Secret Police Squad 781? Who is the dark figure in the alley and will Casper survive the night? Find out the answers to these and more in the next few chapters!

As always please leave a rating, follow or favorite the story and be sure to PM me with your OC's or just any questions. Until next time, Lazersword88 signing off.


	3. Chapter 2: Fated Connections

Lazersword88 here with a new chapter! As always feel free to review, PM me and favorite the story if you haven't already. I don't think I'll be able to post a new chapter every day, but I'll try to update fairly regularly. Also, do you guys think I should respond to reviews?

One new character will be joining the story as of this chapter:

Sora Tsukishiro (PandaHeroXD)

CHARACTER SUBMISSIONS ARE STILL BEING ACCEPTED! Please feel free to send them in via PM (preferable) or review. See the OC application chapter for the full template. Anyways, into the story we go.

3 years before Z-day Near Central Cemetery, Philadelphia 3AM

"Curse you wanderer! You screwed up everything!" Casper Tapely yelled into the dead of the night. He couldn't pick his body up of the ground enough to stand up. Each time he would try he would just fall on his cracked ribs and make them hurt even worse. Even if someone did find him, there is no way he could go to the hospital covered in powdery white cocaine and a bullet wound in his leg. Slamming his good fist on the ground, Casper said "one day, I'll get my revenge on you wanderer. You'll wish you weren't born…"

Casper stops himself out of sheer panic as he saw a dark figure approach him down the alley he was hiding in. In the total darkness only a few things were recognizable. The figure carried two long knives and had bright red eyes. Casper trembled in the corner, unable to do anything as the dark figure stepped out into the light in front of him…

Casper closed his eyes, expecting to die in a matter of moments. Not feeling any strike, he timidly opened his eyes to see what had happened. What he saw in front of him shocked him. Standing there was a women covered from head to toe by a black cloak with red outlines. She stood at about 5' 9" and was fairly skinny. Around her waist she wore a strap which supported the holsters for two large stainless steel butchers knives. Two bandoliers wrapped around her legs bulged out slightly from under her cloak. Casper wasn't able to tell what she was carrying in them but could safely assume that they weren't bullets. The women had features that both made her look menacing but somehow attractive in a sinister way. Her skin was pale white and her breasts were on the smaller side. She bore scars on her skin visible to Casper on her face and lower arms. If he could see her whole body he would see that she bore scars from various blades, bullets and needles all over her body.

If it weren't for one feature, Casper would be probably would be scared shitless at this point. When Casper looked into her red eyes, he saw a completely different person. She wore a sad look on her face and her eyes gleamed at him innocently. This made Casper feel some sympathy for her, since he assumed she was probably forced into the violent life she is likely living.

The girl stared Casper in the eyes for a few moments and then reached to the bandolier on her leg, removing two darts. "The one on the left is coated in jellyfish venom which with paralyze you temporarily" the girl said in a soft and quiet voice that was easy on the ears. "If you ask me to use it I will take you somewhere I can help you with your injuries. The repairs will be painful, so don't accept this offer if you're not brave. In exchange for my services, you will owe me a few favors". She then put that dart in her off hand and showed him the other one. "This here is tipped with cobra venom. It will kill you slowly and painlessly upon entering the bloodstream. If you don't agree to help me, I'll use this on you". She walked the rest of the way up to Casper and pulled his body off the ground. Putting the two darts up to his neck, she asked "so which is it going to be?"

Elsewhere

A gang of thugs huddled around a table inside their hideout. They were distributing guns and ammo for a raid on an opposing gang's territory. They also had a very profitable contract to capture teenage girls and sell them to an anonymous business partner. One such captured girl, Emiko Nagasaki, was tied up in the corner of the room. _My claustrophobia is really kicking in right now_, she said squirming about with her legs and arms tied. _I need to find a way out of here. How could this happen to someone like me? Oh well, I guess the stuff my parents tortured me with was worse. _

Just then a thug smashed a bottle on the ground and a large piece of broken glass slide near where Emiko was trapped. She noticed the glass and tried to wait for a moment to move to get the glass. Once the thugs were thoroughly distracted, she slowly squirmed up to the glass, grabbed it and squirmed back to where she was up against the wall. She slowly cut at the rope and had to try her best not to scream from the pain of the glass cut her hand some. Once she was most of the way through the rope she stopped cutting there and weakened the ropes around her legs while no one was watching. After both her arm and leg ties were weakened enough that she could bust out of them at a moment's notice, she waited for the chance to surprise them and escape. _There are about twenty in the room now, but after they leave for their raid there will be about five give or take. I can't let them notice my weakened restraints or they might kill me. I could really use a distraction soon…_

Just then, an axe burst through the window of the hideout and hit a goon in the head, instantly killing him. Immediately after a figure dressed in mostly black and wearing a black mask crashed through what was left of the window. The black masked figure let out a vicious roar and his eyes began to glow a dark shade of red. Whipping out his revolver and a second axe he shot all of six shots rapidly, each of them killing one or more thugs. He then killed the five knife wielding thugs who charged him with one chop each from his axe. The remaining two thugs quickly formulated a plan to stop the intruder. The first thug hid behind a couch and provided suppressive fire with his pistol. One of the shots grazed the black masked man's shoulder, who was hiding behind a wall trying to quickly reload his revolver. The second thug reached for the table and started to load the biggest weapon by far on the table, an m60 light machinegun. _If I don't do anything right now that guy is dead,_ Emiko thought. She quickly broke loose and ran behind the thug at the table, impaling him through his neck with the glass. The first thug saw this and turned to shoot her, causing Emiko to freeze in fear. Then from out of nowhere, the masked man's axe hits the thug in the face, killing him.

The masked man walked into the room with mostly dead bodies as Emiko stood there, still dazed by the life or death moment she just experienced. His eyes still glowing red, the masked man noticed that one of the gangsters was squirming a bit on the ground. He pointed his revolver at the wounded man and was about to shoot him again when the unexpected happened. He felt the girl he just saved hug him while crying fiercely. "He's already down!" she screamed. "You don't need to do this. Please. Listen to me" she said as the tears streamed down her face and neck. The masked man's eyes returned to their normal color and he returned her hug as a tear ran down his face under his mask. After a few moments the girl stopped crying and Rikio stopped hugging the girl, turning to leave. "Don't leave me here! You need someone and I want to be your friend" Emiko said emotionally. "Trust me, you don't want anything to do with me" the masked man said, sadness in his voice. "I honestly don't care how crazy you are. I'm probably just as crazy as you are" the girl said honestly, thinking of all the horrible side effects years of torture at her foster parents hands had caused her. "If we go on being crazy alone, we will never grow past our problems. Let me help you and let yourself help me". "Fine, if you really feel like hearing me out on my problems I won't object. Just don't say I didn't warn you" the man said, trying to act disinterested.

The two walked down the otherwise empty road together. Rikio talked about his messed up family life that caused him to resort to violence as an outlet, his job as a contractor for the police, his tendency to slay droves of thugs when he gets emotional and his loner status at school. Emiko told Rikio about all the awful things her adoptive parents did to her, how she too felt alone at school and her violent urges from time to time. The masked man realized that he and this girl were very similar after all and that he trusts her, which is odd for him since he doesn't usually trust anyone.

As they walked down the road Emiko reached her hand out to the masked man. Reluctant at first, the man eventually gripped the girl's hand. _It's so warm_, the man thought to himself. "If you don't mind, could you take that mask of and tell me your name?" the girl asked, blushing slightly. "No! I don't want you to get caught up in my problems…" he tried to say. As he was giving his answer, the girl reached for his mask. At first he felt like trying to stop her, but something about it just felt right so he didn't stop her. The girl blushed a bit when she saw his handsome pale face with purple eyes and jet black hair.

"So… I guess we should we should introduce formally. I'm Emiko Nagasaki. I'm 13 years old" said the short girl with the white hair and deep blue eyes. "Wait you're really 13?!" Rikio said. "I thought you were younger then that". "That's what most people say" Emiko replied. "Tell me your real name please". At first the man thought about lying, but then he looked at the girl again and realized that he had feelings for her. He wasn't sure if the feelings were mutual, but he knew there was only one way to know for sure. "My name is Rikio Hiroshi and I'm 15". She looked into his eyes and giggled a little. "I have no idea why you wear a mask if you're this cute" she said as she pulled him into a hug and kiss. Rikio was stunned by this, but he pulled her in closer as soon as he got a grip on what was happening.

After breaking up from their long kiss, Rikio thought of something. "You need to head back to the orphanage right away or do you want to go somewhere cool" he asked, trying to sound smooth. "Are you kidding? I'm in no hurry to go back to the jerks there" she said while one of her arms was wrapped around to him.

Eventually Rikio reached his destination, a hill in the city park with one mighty oak tree standing on the top and nothing else around it. "Let's sit down under the tree" Rikio said. He was surprised when Emiko sat down on his lap. The two lay there and stared up at the stars, which were beautiful and plentiful this night. "You know Rikio, we are a lot like the stars out there" Emiko said softly. "The stars may be formed chaotically and be flawed, but they can still look beautiful regardless". Rikio chuckled a bit. "I think your forcing the metaphor a bit" he said smirking. "Oh shut up!" Emiko said, turning over and giving Rikio another quick kiss. She turned back over, yawned and then said "I'm tired. Goodnight!". "Wait, we still have to walk you…" Rikio tried to say, but then he realized his words fell on deaf ears as she lay sleeping soundly in his lap. Rikio smiled, feeling good about how his day ended. He removed his jacket slowly as to not wake up Emiko and placed it over top of her like a blanket. It didn't matter how cold he felt because his heart felt warmer than it had in a long time. He looked at the mask he had been wearing and tossed it off into the brush somewhere. He wouldn't need it as long as she was with him.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Residential District, Philadelphia 9PM

A young man dashed through the busy streets paying no attention to anything in his way. _I've got to get away from that old man_, he thought as he dashed through the traffic, his ponytail whipping about as he ran. Anger over what had just transpired could be seen flashing through his gold eyes. _Why won't my parents ever listen to what I want_? The young man's name was Rexen. He was originally from Germany where he lived with just his mother since his parents were divorced. His mother wanted to send him to some private board school because she secretly didn't want to care for him. When Rexen found this out, he ran away and tried to live with his American father here in Philadelphia. However, his father was a violent drunk and after one fight too many happened tonight, Rexen decided to pack up as many of his things as he could carry and run off.

After a few more minutes running, Rexen stopped. _Even though any place is better than my dad's place right now, I have to think of where I'm going_, he thought. He stopped and took a minute to take in his surroundings, realizing no one else was around and he was in a rougher neighborhood. He sat down, trying to come up with some kind of plan. His thoughts were disrupted by a familiar scream heard a few blocks away. Rexen's eyes grew wide and he heart skipped a beat. "Alice…" he muttered as he sprinted towards the source of the sound.

Alice was one of Rexen's closest and only friends at school here in the states. Rexen had a secret crush on Alice, but every time he wanted to admit his feelings for her something always came up or he chickened out. As he raced towards the source of the noise, all of his other problems seemed petty in contrast to the pain losing Alice would cause him. As he rounded the next corner, he was horrified by what he saw.

Alice was surrounded by thugs and she didn't look very good. Parts of her light blond hair were darkened from blood which flowed down the top of her head and face. Her olive skin was covered in cuts and bruises. She looked very visibly tired, barely mustering the strength to stand and grip her tonfas. Amongst the bodies of thugs strewn about the small street lay three young girls wearing disciplinary committee uniforms like the one Alice was in, bloodied and showing little to no signs of life. As the thugs closed in to finish Alice off, Alice looked over and saw Rexen. Her face showed she was sad and angry, but also showed she understood the futility of her struggle. Rexen, ignoring the danger rushed at the thugs, kicking them out of the way to reach Alice. Holding her trembling body up, Rexen says "Come on, we're getting you out of her". She looked at him, tears rolling down her blood coated face. "You idiot, get out of here! While you still have a chance!" she screamed. "I'm not going to leave you here" Rexen said, supporting her weight. "I can't sit here and watch my friend die". Alice managed to laugh weakly before cringing in pain. "That exactly what I thought when I stepped in to protect those three" she said, looking at the three girls on the ground. "I thought I could be some kind of fucking hero but now look at this! They're dead and I'm about to be next. I couldn't even save them…" she said as she started to sob again. "Please don't make my grave yours too" she said looking at her friend.

With this Rexen set Alice down on her knees and stepped forward, chuckling. "Someone wise once said that if you don't pick the battle you will die in, it will eventually pick you. I'd rather die fighting to save someone I care about then of old age" Rexen said calmly. "Do you even know how to fight?" Alice asked curiously. "You always rely on me to save you from bullies". "That's because I've been holding back trying not to hurt them. Why don't I show you what I can really do" Rexen said looking back to Alice. "By the way, in case I don't live through this I wanted to say I really like you".

Alice blushed a bit but before she could say anything Rexan rushed the nearest thug. The thug swiped at Rexen with his knife, but he ducked under it. Grinning, he uppercut the thug causing him to fly up 10 ft. in the air as everyone watched in awe. Running up to the next cluster of thugs, he karate chopped the first one in the neck and then swept the legs out from the next three with one sweeping kick. Picking up a steel pipe that one of the thugs dropped, Rexen gestured for the thugs to come at him. A thug about twenty feet away started to draw a gun, but was stopped when Rexen's pipe hit him in the head. Using his speed Rexen ran to the thug, caught the pipe and struck him in the head again with the pipe in one smooth motion. _I had no idea Rex was this strong_, thought Alice. That awe quickly turned to fear as a much stronger looking young man sauntered slowly behind Rexen.

Rexen had taken down about ten thugs at this point, about half the number originally surrounding Alice. The other ten started to back up in fear as Rexen started to charge them. However, he was interrupted by a gruff voice behind him. "Comrades, back away from that man". The lesser thugs immediately headed their leaders command. Rexen turned to see a man dressed in lightweight swat armor holding a katana blade to Alice's neck. "If you value this girl's life, you will listen to me very carefully" the man said. "Don't you dare kill her! Get that sword away from her now!" Rexen yelled. "I have no intention of killing her" he said with little emotion. "My orders are to capture any young women that I deem strong enough and then deliver them to my commander. You have three options. If you value your life you can walk away now. We will experiment on the girl, but I promise we won't kill her. Your second option is to find me a woman of equal strength to sate my master's needs". The man in the black swat helmet then looked Rexen in the eyes with a prideful grin. "Your final option is to face me in single combat. The winner will be decided when one of us is brought to our knees. That person will decide what happens to the girl and their opponent life. If you choose this option I swear on the honor of my family that none of my men will interfere until the conclusion of our duel. If you can beat me you and your girl can walk free without a struggle".

Rexen look at Alice, who had a concerned look on her face. "There is no way in hell I would walk away from you when you need my help" Rexen said, faking a confident smile to Alice. "Please, don't do this!" Alice yelled. "This guy isn't like the others! You'll die! My conscience can't stand to see any more of my friends dies" she said as she looked at the blood on her hand. Rexen softly smiled. "If I walked away now, I would never forgive myself. Incase I die in this fight, I would like you to tell me one thing. Did you ever have feelings for me, or were you just content on being friends?" Alice's face was bright red. "Well… I wanted to like you as more than a friend, but every time I tried to tell something came up that made me feel like it wasn't the best time" she said, looking slightly embarrassed. "Well once I'm done with this guy we can be honest about our feelings" he said, now with a real smile.

Rexen walked towards his opponent. "I like to honor those I'm about to kill by telling them who is doing the deed" said the man taking of his helmet, which revealed he was not much older than Rexen or Alice. "I am Bradley Horoda, warrior of the Horoda samurai clan and a member of police unit 781". Alice was shocked. _So he is a member of the infamous group 781 my father told me about before he died,_ Alice thought. _Dammit, Rex has no chance against this guy. But why is a group tasked with undercover missions for the greater good orchestrating the kidnapping of girls? _"I'm Rexen Tsukino, black belt in karate and taekwondo" Rexen said. "Very well" Bradley said. "Prepare to face your fate".

Both men took up their stances. After a long pause, Rexen attacked first, swinging his pipe quickly and furiously at Bradley. Bradley only blocked and sidestepped Rexen's attacks, waiting for the moment Rexan would lose his balance. That moment finally came when Rexen put all of his weight behind one attack. Bradley quickly countered and swung his sword full force towards Rexen's chest. However Rexen was able to quickly block the strike with his pipe, which split in half because of the hit. Rexen wasting no time started attacking with both ends of the pipe. Bradley had a hard time blocking the constant barrage of strikes, with a few swipes grazing his armor and helmet. Seeing another opportunity to strike, Bradley lunged forward to try to stab Rexen. However this backfired as Rexen jumped onto Bradley's katana blade and unleashed a devastating strike into Bradley's chest armor with both pipe ends. Bradley slid back a few feet as Rexen jump of the blade.

_To think a civilian is capable of such strength,_ thought Bradley. _He would have made a great 781 acquisition if I didn't have to kill him. I think I might have to use my ability…_ Bradley toreoff his armor because he felt it was slowing him down. "You are the first civilian ever who I've needed my secret power to face" Bradley said as his eye began to glow red. "What?!" Rexen and Alice both yelled. "My commander has been generous and given me the power to see peoples worst fears and then use their fears against them in battle" Bradley exclaimed. Rexen was blinded by a bright light. As soon as he could see again, he saw two Alices, both kneeling on the ground near each other. He couldn't discern which one was real. Bradley's voice could be heard in his head saying "bet you won't attack one you miserable coward". At first Rexen was afraid to do anything. _What if I guess wrong and hurt Alice? What if I kill her? I… can't do it, _he thought. But then an idea came to him. "Hey Ally, don't you hate being called Ally?" he asked with a smirk on his face. One of the two Alice copies seemed upset about that. "That's no way to talk to your friend" this Alice said. Then suddenly, a half of the pipe hit that Alice in the head, knocking her back and exposing that Alice as Bradley.

"What you don't know Bradley is that I call her Ally every day. The real Alice would be ok with that". Bradley appeared very angered by this. "So that's how much the bitch matters to you. Too bad you're powerless to save her. No one breaks through my illusion powers and lives to tell about it!" he screamed as he charged Rexen. "No one calls Alice a bitch!" Rexen howled as he charged straight for Bradley. Alice laughed at the irony. _With all of their complex techniques, are they really going to let it all be decided by one final strike, _she wondered. Sword met pipe in a loud clang. Both men exerted all of their strength into trying to win the struggle. Sparks flew in all directions, illuminating the city street. In the end, it seemed their strength was about equal. Then, Bradley got a second wind, breaking Rexen's pipe and sending him skidding on the ground where he was sprawled out. Bradley slowly walked over to Rexen as Alice cried out in sadness. Standing over Rexen, Bradley asked "any final words" as he gripped his sword to deliver the final blow. "…Alice… I'm sorry…" Rexan murmured. Bradley raised his sword and prepared to deliver the death blow. His sword then accelerated downward towards its target as Alice screamed "no!"

Instead of hearing a splattering sound, Alice heard the clanging of blades. Looking up, she saw that another person had knocked Bradley's blade out of the way at the last second. Everyone looked stunned, especially the other thugs. "It's the wanderer! Run!" one of them said as he tried to flee. Phil dashed over to a large group of the thugs, unleashing a flurry of controlled stabs and slashes at them with his fencing sabers until each of them succumbed to their injuries. The remaining three thugs tried to run away, but two of them stabbed in their chests by Lane and the final one was shot by Sora with her custom crossbow. "Thanks for the assist girls" Phil called out to his two companions as he grinned and gave them a wink.

Phil was really glad he had brought Sora along on this particular bounty hunt as her skills were proving to be mighty useful. On some late nights recently, the new couple Phil and Lane went to high crime areas of the city looking for clues about the mysterious kidnappings occurring and criminals with high bounties they could cash in. Just recently, Phil's childhood friend Sora moved into an apartment near where Phil lived with her family. Sora was one of Phil's best friends when they grew up at a city orphanage together. She was about 5'4" with a runner's build, light cream colored skin scared from previous fights, soft black hair that ran to her elbows, b cup breasts and electric blue eyes. Sora, or Sky as she seems to like to go by nowadays, was a bit of a tomboy who wasn't afraid to get into a fight if it was necessary. She beat up the bullies who tried to hurt other people at the orphanage, much like Phil. One day the bullies had enough of her meddling and surrounded her, trying to teach her a lesson. However Phil stepped in and the two beat up all the punks. After this an instant friendship was born. Phil at the time thought that most people were his friends just to get protection from bullies, but with Sora he couldn't say that. She was almost always right there with him beating up bullies or just hanging out with him. Their friendship was suddenly halted when Sora was adopted and moved away to live with new adoptive parents. While Sora was unhappy that her parents had to downgrade houses recently, she was extremely ecstatic to be able to hang with Phil all the time again. The biggest thing that surprised Phil was Lane accepting another girl who was really close to Phil hanging out with them all the time. Early on when Sora started to hang out with Lane and Phil again, Lane pulled Sora aside and had a personal talk with her. Sora admitted that she had some feelings for Phil, but didn't want to interfere with Phil and Lane if they were happy together. Lane made Sora promise her that she would keep being Phil's friend and be there if anything were to happen to her. Sora's combat skills complemented Phil and Lane's fencing styles well. She liked to use ranged weapons and her preferred weapon is her crossbow, which she uses to go hunting sometimes. Also she is agile, good at parkour, stealthy and excellent at tracking. It was thanks to her tracking skills that the three were able to reach Rexen and Alice in time save them.

Now that all the thugs were knocked down, a deathly silence gripped the street. Phil, with Lane and Sora at his side, looked on as Bradley stood over a still downed Rexen while Alice, still on her knees somehow, looked on. At first Bradley seemed angered by the interruption, but then he started laughing maniacally. "Well, if it isn't the ex-commander and his cheer squad. How nice of you to join us" Bradley said. "One of my other objectives for this week was to hunt you down, but it looks like you've saved me the trouble". "Still following orders blindly Bradley? I can see you haven't changed at all since I left the force" Phil said, grinning confidently. "By the way, call me Phil now. I was never your commander and I never really liked you". "You're acting as if I used to like you?" Bradley said. "I've always hated you! You betraying us only deepened my hatred". Phil chuckled at his words. "The force betrayed its purpose of helping protect civilians when it started experimenting with gene modification. I can see they've experimenting on your eye" Phil said, noticing the veins bulging on Bradley's left eye. "So did he order you to go around and kidnap girls?" Phil said, getting serious. "You won't live long enough to find out" Bradley saying, removing his sword from the ground next to where Rexen lay.

Phil unsheathed his two fencing swords and took up an aggressive stance. Lane and Sora stepped up too to fight, but Phil shook his head no. "This guy is really powerful. Let me handle it, ok?" The two girls stepped back as Bradley took his stance. "Aren't you going to try to use that ability of yours?" Phil said with a smile. "Or are you too afraid to?" Bradley smiled. "Well if you insist" he said, smiling manically. There was a bright flash of light. When Phil could see again his surroundings had changed. Bradley and Phil stood alone atop the same hill where Phil's parents graves were. However there were two graves next to those of his parents, one for Lane and the other Sora. "It's too bad you won't be able to save them after I'm done with you" Bradley said with a sick smile on his face. He was surprised when he heard Phil laughing. "What?" Bradley yelled. "You're supposed to crumble under the pressure of failing your friends. What could be so funny?" "There is no way I'll lose to worthless trash like you" Phil said smiling. "And even if you did kill my friends, it would only motivate me more to kill you". The illusion scattered as Phil's friends appeared behind him on the street again.

Bradley appeared enraged. "Enough of the bullshit! First some kid breaks through my illusion and now you! I will cut you into pieces before you can shame me anymore". While he was distracted, Phil put a signal up behind his back. Lane and Sora saw it and started moving. Lane moved to help Rexan while Sora went to try to stop Alice's bleeding. Bradley noticed this and dashed towards Sora. "You'll die for interfering!" he screamed as he moved in to stab Sora with his katana. Sora had fear in her eyes, realizing she didn't have enough time to evade. _Perfect, he took the bait_, Phil thought. Right before the blade would pierce through Sora, Phil dashed in and parried the blade with his left hand blade. Rather than completely knock the blade out of the way, he just slightly displaced the blade so it barely missed him and Sora. Using this artistic block, Bradley was completely of balance with his weight moving forward, giving Phil the perfect opportunity to incapacitate him. With his right hand blade Phil sliced upward as hard as he could. The blade made contact with and sliced all the way through his left arm, severing it. After completing the parry with his left hand blade, Phil lunged and stabbed Bradley all the way through his chest with his blade. After a few seconds of impaling Bradley on his blade, he used his leg to kick him off as Bradley landed in a pool of his own blood.

"How do those two look?" Phil asked, taking a piece of cloth out to clean the blood off his blades. "The boy is already up" Alice said, exchanging a smile with Phil. "Hey, easy there. How do you feel?" she said to a dazed Rexen. "My head hurts a bit… but otherwise I'm ok" he said looking around to see the three people unfamiliar faces. "Who are you guys?" "I'm Lane Easton" Lane said. "I'm a nationally ranked fencer. He's my boyfriend Phil Angelo. He is also a national ranked fencer. And she is Sora Tsukishiro, Phil's friend from his orphanage and expert bowman". As Rexen looks around at them, something hits him. "Wait" Rexen said. "Who dismembered Bradley that badly?" "I did" Phil said, shooting Rexen a friendly smile and showing him his fencing sabers. "How did you do it?" Rexen inquired. "I thought he was a member of that Police Group 781. Aren't those guys supposed to be really strong"? "I used to be a squad commander in 781 before I quit" Phil said as Rexen's eyes grew wide. "I used to be a believer in the group's vision of protecting people. But then I found out they were performing human gene experiments that could endanger lives. Now I'm just a police bounty hunter of sorts outside of school" Phil said honestly. "Wow… well thanks for saving us. How did you find us? Is Alice ok?" Rexen asked, looking concerned. Phil looked over at Sora helping bandage some of Alice's cuts. "Sora is an excellent tracker. As soon as we heard screams she climbed up a tall building and pinpointed the source of the sounds" Phil said. "Sora, how does the girl look?" "She has a few broken bones and minor lacerations. She will need to go to a hospital but she's not in danger of dying" Sora said, smiling over to Phil. "The hospital isn't too far off. Can you get her there Sora?" Phil asked. "I'm on it!" Sora yelled as she picked up Alice piggyback style and ran off towards the hospital. "Meet back at my house in an hour" Phil yelled as she ran off.

Suddenly, Bradley started getting up. "I… won't… lose to scum like you!" he yelled as he finally got up. Phil quickly got back into his fighting stance. "Give it up Bradley" Phil said. "If you move around much more you'll bleed out". "I'd rather bleed out killing you and your friends then live in the shame of defeat. I shall uphold my honor". Phil laughed. "What honor? You use your power to attack innocent girls and their friends. Now you're missing an arm and slowly dying. If there's any honor in that, I don't see it". "Shut up!" Bradley screamed as he charged Phil with all his remaining strength. Phil ran towards his opponent and both swung one of their swords. The two crashed together in another flurry of sparks. After a few seconds, Phil pushed a little hard on his blade. This caused Bradley's blade to fly out his hand and onto the ground behind him. Phil's fencing saber broke down the middle of the blade though. Casting the broken blade aside, Phil walked up to Bradley who was now on his knees. He placed the blade of his other saber to Bradley's head. "Even though I hate killing people, I can't forgive you for the pain you've caused" Phil said with a slightly saddened look in his eyes. "Just give me an honorable warrior's death…" Bradley struggled to say, coughing up blood. With no second thoughts Phil stabbed his blade clean through Bradley's neck, withdrew his blade and then turned to walk away as Bradley fell to the ground dead.

Phil walked over to the bodies of Alice's three dead friends, grabbing three shirts off a nearby clothesline. He closed each of their dead eyelids, cleaned of their bloodied faces and placed the shirts over their faces. "I'm sorry I didn't make it in time to save you" Phil said sadly to the dead bodies. "I swear your sacrifice won't be in vain. I will find who is kidnapping these girls and make sure they get what they deserve" he continued as a tear or two rolled down his face. Lane came up behind Phil and hugged him. "You won't have to go it alone. I'll be right behind you" she said looking him in the eyes. Phil was a bit shocked when he felt a hand pat him on the shoulder a few times. "You can count me in too" Rexen said staring at Phil confidently. "Are you sure you're up for this?" Phil asked. "You almost got killed once tonight". "I can't rest until I find who is responsible for hurting Alice" Rexen said confidently. "Ok then" Phil said. "By the way, I don't think you ever told me your name". "I'm Rexen Tsukino" Rexen said. "Nice to meet you" Phil replied. Phil then walked over to Bradley's body and picked up his katana. It had orange straps on the handle so it could be carried over ones back. "Take this" Phil said handing the katana over to Rexen. "You were the true hero of this battle". Rexen felt strangely empowered now that he was holding the weapon that nearly killed him. He swung it a few times. It was heavy, but not heavy enough for him not to be able to manage it. Phil then moved on and picked up the pieces of his broken sword, carefully trying to fit it all back its original holster. "Come on guys, we need to make a special visit to my friend Alistar" he said as the three ran off together into the night.

Elsewhere:

A small teenage girl with frost blue eyes and dirty white hair not styled in any way sat alone atop the roof of one of the areas tallest buildings. She wore a green military jacket overtop a blue and white baseball shirt, black boots and black skinny jeans. She quickly pulled up her m21 sniper rifle, crouched down and scoped in. She wasn't on a mission to kill anyone. Rather she enjoyed spending her nights off from 781 missions silently watching over people like some kind of God and deciding their fate from afar. Because of how much she hates her family, she has a thing for aiming at young families or couples in love. Usually she wouldn't shoot anyone because she just liked the feeling of control over someone's life. But if a crime or injustice occurs in her sights, she isn't afraid to shoot. Her concentration was disturbed by a sharp scream of a young girl. She turns and scopes in to check out the scene…

Layla runs away as fast as she can from the thugs that are chasing her, but she is eventually cornered and encircled by them. She screams out for someone to help her, but no one seems to hear her. "Gotcha you now, you sneaky little rat. Did you really think you could run forever" one of the thugs said, grinning. Layla backed up against the wall in fear as the thugs slowly closed in on her and tugged on her dirty, worn dress. She let out a deafening scream…

A skinny young man with brown eyes, slightly tanned skin and black hair in a mohawk walked down the silent street homeward bound. His name was Noah Calle and he was upset about his friends ditching him again. _Whenever those guys see hot girls they can talk to, they ditch me as if I am dead weight. Even if I'm confused right now, they should at least try to understand me. I wish someone could understand my feelings_, he thought as he walked down the empty road. Then he heard a deafening scream. Not wasting anytime, he dashed towards the source of the noise. That's when he saw a group of thugs grabbing at a young, defenseless girl. He was about to charge in, but then he stopped himself to think. _Wait, I want to save the girl bad but, do I really want to get involved? Sure I know how to kick box, but they have knives and guns so I don't stand much of a chance. But, if I don't do anything they'll kill her, or worse._ Unable to make up his mind, Noah stood there in fear…

The girl with the m21 licked her lips in excitement. "This is getting interesting" she said to herself. "I could kill just the thugs. Or I could kill them all, which would be fun". She then stopped and thought about it. "Or maybe… I can wait and see what Romeo does to try to save Juliet, and then make my decision. That sounds like the most fun!" she said with a sadistic smile…

Who is the mysterious girl with the knives and darts? What does she want from Casper? Will Casper choose to live and help her or die? Why are Police Squad 781 members helping to abduct teenage girls? Why are only girls being abducted? What does this mysterious contractor need these teen girls for? Who is responsible for the girls capture? Will Phil and his friends get to the bottom of this? How did Bradley obtain his power? Does Phil know more about 781's secrets then he is telling everyone else? Did Sora get Alice to the hospital successfully? Who is this Alistar Phil is seeking out? What does he need from him? How have these kidnappings been going on for six months now and still no culprit has been found? Who is the women from 781 sniping on the rooftop? Will Noah attempt to save Layla or run away? Will either of them survive? What will the sniper decide to do to Noah and Layla? Will Rikio feel less emotional urges now that he is with Emiko? Will their relationship last?

Find out all this and more in the next chapter! Remember to submit OC's, rate, follow, favorite and PM me. This is Lazersword88 signing out.


	4. Chapter 3: Mysterious Red Eyes

Welcome back everyone, Lazersword88 here with a new chapter. I know it has been a bit since I've updated but I've been busy writing papers for school. I find it funny my average chapter in this story is longer than one of my papers. This will be the last chapter of the pre z-day arc of my story and will feature a lot of characters in many groups. Next chapter there will be zombies. Also this chapter will introduce two new groups, new villain or two and some revelations that will be important to the rest of the story, so if you haven't read the first two chapters yet please do before reading this. It's worth note that in the chapter a few of the rejected characters will appear along with characters that made the story. This will only occur in the next two chapters and is sort of my way of saying thank you to those who submitted and didn't quite make it. That being said I'll leave revealing the new characters in story until the end just for suspense. Don't forget to review, favorite/follow the story and PM me with anything you want to know about the story.

If you guys still want to submit characters, please do even if you have already submitted one. Just note that I will be very selective with the last few characters I let in, so make them creative. If you want your character to be there on z-day please submit them to me in the next few days. However know that now that I'm finished the before z-day story, the new characters cannot have close relationships with Phil before z-day unless it is well explained why they weren't there during the first three chapters.

Chapter 3 will be submitted in at least 6 parts so that you guys don't have to wait for me to finish the last few bits. I will try to get them all up tonight. Now on to the story.

3 years before Z-day Near Central Cemetery, Philadelphia 3:03AM

The girl stared Casper in the eyes for a few moments and then reached to the bandolier on her leg, removing two darts. "The one on the left is coated in jellyfish venom which with paralyze you temporarily" the girl said in a soft and quiet voice that was easy on the ears. "If you ask me to use it I will take you somewhere I can help you with your injuries. The repairs will be painful, so don't accept this offer if you're not brave. In exchange for my services, you will owe me a few favors". She then put that dart in her off hand and showed him the other one. "This here is tipped with cobra venom. It will kill you slowly and painlessly upon entering the bloodstream. If you don't agree to help me, I'll use this on you". She walked the rest of the way up to Casper and pulled his body off the ground. Putting the two darts up to his neck, she asked "so which is it going to be?"

Casper grinned and chuckled a bit to himself, blood still flowing from his mouth.

"I'm obviously going to choose to live. But what makes you think that I'm going to help you?" Casper said, staring the red eyed girl deep in the eyes.

"You don't know it yet, but no matter what you do you will be helping me" the girl said back with an evil grin. Before he knew what hit him, Casper had a dart in his neck and passed out…

A few days later Abandoned Warehouse 3PM

Casper woke in a quiet room. He looked around his surroundings and he almost threw up. Crude medical tools lay on a table to the right of his hastily made bed. Blood that was most likely his could be seen slowly dripping off of the tools. Instinctively Casper checked where his wounds were and was surprised to see that they were all well stitched up. He was showered off and in a new set of street clothes. Also, he had cheap casts around his ribs and his wrist. He slowly got up, feeling some slight pain where the bullet wound in his leg had been. Carefully he limped over to the tray of tools and found the bullet that used to be lodged in his leg.

"You've been unconscious for three days" said a voice behind Casper, which caused him to jump in shock. He turned around to see no one, but then looked up to see the same girl who he had met that night perched on one of the roof supports inside the building. She jumped down in front of him and continued talking.

"You lost a lot of blood from the bullet wound. If I didn't get you here as soon as I did, I might have had to amputate your leg" she continued saying as Casper felt nauseous.

Casper looked up at the girl. She wasn't dressed in the cloak that she was the first time he had met her. She wore a tattered black t-shirt which revealed a tinny section of her small cleavage and the scars on her arms, black skinny jeans, and black military boots. She wore a necklace which could be flipped open to reveal a picture. What the picture could be one could only guess. She wore short studded ruby earrings, which complemented her black attire well, and had short but flowing gorgeous black hair. Her red eyes shown with a bit more happiness then they had before when they met. When the girl realized that Casper was staring at her features she gives him a frustrated look to gain his attention again. Noticing that Casper was blushing, the girl looked away, blushing herself.

Casper looked at the girl, then at the medical tools and then at the stiches on his leg. "Were you the one that operated on me" Casper asked confusedly.

The girl looked back with an expressionless face. "Yea, it was me. I can do a lot more than kill by cutting things open" she said with a devilish smile as she drew one of her knives and started tossing it up and down.

Casper then asked the question that had burning inside him since he had woken up. "Who are you and why did you help me?"

The girl, who looked to be about 13 or 14 years old, started pacing the small room while still tossing her knives about. "Who I am is not important. In reality I don't even exist" she said as Casper looked on confused. "As for why I helped you… It was because I felt sorry for you".

With that Casper laughed hysterically when he heard this. "How could you possibly feel sorry for me? I've been a part of gangs for years. I'm a cocaine addict. How can anyone be sorry for a person like me?"

"Because at least you have the opportunity to choose your path in life, even if it is the wrong one" the girl said, with a sad look on her face. "It's sad that you choose to waste the life choices you are given on the things that don't even matter. What will all the money and cheap fix highs get you when someone important to you dies and you regret not spending more time with them?"

That last point hit home with Casper. He looked at all the various scars and casts on his body. She's right… What am I doing with my life? My choices can't be making my parents proud. I've been clouded by so much greed I've left my real friends for these 'friends' in the gangs. But why does she care about my choices? he thought to himself. Tears started to roll down the young man's face as he contemplated the culmination of all his past failures. "Why do you care so much about my personal life and what do you mean you never had a choice?!" Casper said upset. "You're just as violent a person as me!"

"Even if I told you my story, it's so messed up I doubt you would believe it" the girl said, turning to walk out of the room. "Let's just say I've been forced to use violence just to stay alive many a time. In your pocket you will find the keys to a motorcycle outside and enough money for a few decent meals for the time being until you're ready to face your family. Remember I told you that night that you owe me a few favors?" she said as he nodded hesitantly.

The girl stopped twirling her knife about and walked closer to Casper. She pushed him against the wall, putting the knife against his neck and her body right against his. Casper wasn't sure whether to be fearing for his life or be incredible turned on at this point. Either way, he felt pretty uncomfortable and ready to tell her anything she wanted to hear

The girl pushed herself more into Casper and he could feel the knife scratching his skin as it pressed ever harder against his neck. "First you're going to tell me everything you know about the gangs you were a part off…"

*Thirty Minutes Later*

"… and the red skull gang's weapons suppliers are all near West 43 street" Casper said, face beet red. "And that's everything I know about the gangs, honest".

I've pumped him enough for information for now thought the girl. "Alright, I have one more request. If you promise to do this for me you can walk out of this room without a struggle and you'll never see me again" the girl said as Casper nodded, thankful to be out of that slightly seductive death hold. "I want you to resign from the gangs for good. Deep down I know you're a better person then you let on. Also, go make some new friends and protect them from the dangers of this city. Your fighting skill is one valuable thing you did gain from these wasted years of yours. Plus, being around people will do you some good or maybe even kill your drug habits".

After all that I've done, all she wants me to do is become a better person? I don't understand… Is the reason she saved me to give me a second chance? Why do I of all people deserve it? Casper thought. Many thoughts like these raced through Casper's mind. "…I promise I can do that for you" Casper said, not sure if he meant it deep down.

The women walked towards the door to the room. "Goodbye Casper Tapely. You're free to go. Knowing my line of work, I doubt I'll ever meet you again." She stopped and turned around when she reached the door. "Always remember your promise here."

Casper ran towards the girl. "Wait, hold on! There's so much I don't understand still! Who are you?!" As Casper tried to grab the girl to stop her from leaving, he grabbed the girl's necklace instead. The necklace chained snapped as beads sprayed all over the floor and the main casing hit the floor, slid on the floor towards Casper and opened up to reveal the picture. When Casper saw the picture his jaw dropped. "How can this be real?" Casper said, still in disbelief at what he was seeing…

To be continued in Part 2 (to be posted in a few minutes)


	5. Chapter 4: The Debrief

Welcome back again everyone. Here is part two of my third chapter. Don't forget to review, favorite and PM me. Enjoy!

4 years before Z-day Secret underground floor of the police station 1AM

Phil Angelo and what remained of his squad walked through the police station and boarded the elevator. Phil was the youngest squad commander in secret police force 781 at the age of 14. The 781 group as a whole was a counter gang and criminal organization who trained 13-19 year olds in combat and espionage. These teams would then be sent into deep cover, posing as gang recruits, drug runners, mercenaries or anything else that could get them close enough to criminal organizations to bring them down from within. What motivated each 781 recruit was vastly different. Some recruits were here for the paycheck. Others are here because they are the sons or daughters of active policemen who got in through their connections. More are convicted criminals who were given the choice between this 'community service' and juvenile prison because of their skill set. There are a few like Phil who are motivated by justice and protecting others. One such person is Phil's appointed second command in the group, Alistar Blackwood. Being a gifted marksmen and mechanic, Alistar fights in order to make the world a better place for his sister Akane.

The elevator reaches the underground floor and the people on it step off to go put their weapons back in their lockers and hit the showers. As much as Phil would love to rinse off after the three day mission he still had to have his debrief meeting with Major Cooper, the head of the 781 operation. Alistar also came with Phil, because he was needed to confirm what Phil would say to be true and give his take on the events that had recently transpired.

As they walked towards Cooper's office Phil turned to his friend, who was currently staring blankly down the hallway deep in thought. "Well this situation sure is going to take a lot of explaining" Phil said, dreading the talk he would have in a few minutes.

"Don't beat yourself up over it old chap" Alistar said faking cheerfulness in his Scottish accented voice. "Those newbies went against orders. There is nothing you could do about that". The messy blond haired boy moved a bit closer to Phil and spoke softer so that passersby couldn't hear what they were saying. "By the way, haven't you noticed that the quality of new recruits has dropped down a lot?" he said looking over to see Phil's reaction.

"Yeah I have noticed that" Phil replied back softly. "It seems like most of the new guys are just homicidal maniacs who care about legally killing people and not justice. They must be really scraping the bottom of the barrel or this organization is going to hell".

As they approached the door, Alistar turned to Phil. "I have something I wanted to talk to you about after this bud" he said as Phil nodded as he opened the door and walked into the Major's office.

The office was much differently decorated then the rest of the uniformly designed base. Rather than the basic military chairs and tables, the office had lavish hand crafted chairs, comfortable couches and a new thick rug. A fake fire place burned quietly on one end of the oval shaped office and a man was seated at a desk on the other side. He was decked out in full police commander garb, which painted a stark contrast to his current posture. He had his feet on the desk, was smoking a pipe and had his chair tilted of the ground. The man was Major Cooper. He had a very interesting story, which serves as an example to some of the trouble individuals in 781. As a young man he worked in criminal organizations until he got his arm blown off and face scarred by an explosion, presumably fired by the thugs he worked for. He cooperated with the police in exchange for a highly advance artificial arm. He eventual became a full-fledged police officer because he stuck to his word and the police trusted him. With Cooper in their fold the police's successful gang bust rate grew exponentially based off Cooper's knowledge of gang's inner workings and criminal psychology. Now with his combat days behind him, Cooper was given a unique opportunity to spearhead a bold new program that would help to continue his personal vendetta against the gangs he used to work for.

The man in his late fifties took notice of the two young men entering the room and put his legs back underneath the desk again. "Good to see the two of you back here alive" the man said, grooming his thick grey mustache. "Now, present your comprehensive report of the mission".

Phil and Alistar sat down in the chairs in front of Cooper's desk. "In summary, all mission objectives were complete" Phil said in a calm voice as he walked up to a nearby mini fridge and grabbed two soda cans, handing one to Alistar as he sat back down. "Team casualties were four out of the ten members sent and enemy casualties were nearly 100%. I doubt the Blue Panthers will be able to function as a collective gang after our operation."

Cooper got out of his desk chair and began pacing about. "I'm pleased by the success of this important mission. However the number of team causalities requires an explanation. Please tell the full story".

Phil looked at Alistar and the two exchanged silent nods. "So as you directed we spent two days deep undercover scouting to come up with an effective plan to destroy the gang's base" Phil said calmly. "We observed there were three critical points that had to be dealt with. Those were the thug's supply catch, the leader of the thugs and the thugs themselves."

"In order to ensure success, we had to kill the leader of the gang" Alistar said, a bit tense. "We observed that during dinner hours he had a habit of eating alone in the third story of the apartment complex next to a window. We discovered a vantage point from the building across the street where we could place our marksmen, Sophia Nguyen, to kill him. However, since she prefers not to use a suppressor on her M21 sniper rifle, her shot would get the attention of the thugs in the opposite building. That brings us back to the apartment across the street. In the basement there was a huge catch of the gang's for sale drugs, weaponry and other valuables. We knew that if we destroyed the catch, it would cripple the gang. Additionally if we blew up the catch of weapons at the same time Sophia took her shot, we knew it would cover up the shot. This would cause the thugs to split themselves up to investigate both noises and lead them right into an ambush where we would finish them".

"That was the way the plan was intended to work" Phil said. "However, we had a problem. We split my ten man squad into four groups. Alistar and Mitchel, the newest member of my squad, were to discretely head to the basement and set explosives charges there. Sophia was to be guarded by Michael and Gabrielle as she took the shot. Rikio and I were to go and confirm the leader K.I.A. while Bradley, Sara and Saya were to kill the thugs that went to investigate the explosion. After confirming the kill, Rikio and I would help out where needed. The timing of the explosion had to be perfectly in synch with the gunshot echoes to insure success".

"However a rookie mistake by my partner Mitchel cost us the lives of four of our members and nearly the mission" Alistar continued. "After we had planted the charges and went back upstairs, Mitchel panicked when he saw a thug approaching the basement door and shot him. With our cover blown, I had no choice but to detonate the explosives to give the two of us a distraction to escape".

"At that same moment I ordered Sophia to aim and take the shot" Phil said, leaning back some in his chair and stretching. "The force of the explosion caused Sophia to miss her first shot and kill him on the second. However the second shot's sound wasn't masked by the sound of the explosion, so the thugs that weren't dealing with Alistar and Mitchell now all flocked to Sophia's location. After confirming the gangs ringleader dead, Rikio and I went to save Mitchell and Alistar who were pinned down under fire".

"My rookie teammate quickly burned through most of his ammo, missing most of his targets in his panic" Alistar said, looking into Cooper's eyes. "When he was down to his last clip, despite me urging him not to, he left cover to charge the enemy and was killed instantly. When Phil and Rikio got to me, I had probably killed at least ten thugs with my Winchester Model 71 Rifle, yet they still kept coming. However, with Phil and Rikio helping me, we cleared the remaining twenty or so thugs out of the surrounding rooms".

"What happened to the other teams?" Cooper asked with his usual emotionless glare.

"The team of Saya, Sara and Bradley worked their way into the building and ambushed about half of the remaining gang members" Phil said, leaning his chair back. "Bradley, hearing footsteps around the corner of a hallway, decided to turn around the corner and stab whoever it was. The person he wound up killing was Sara, another of our operatives. Bradley thought nothing of killing his teammate and continued killing people while Saya unsuccessfully did everything he could have to try to save the dying girl. Bradley and Saya completed their part of the mission but Saya was very upset at Bradley after, threatening to kill Bradley if he came near anyone he cared about".

"The final group suffered the most casualties. After Sophia made the shot about twenty thugs crossed the street to the two story building the team was in" Alistar said, still with a serious look. "Michael attempted to attack them as they entered the building but was quickly cut down by machine gun fire and died. Sophia and Gabrielle staked out on the top floor. Soon there were only a few thugs but the two were running out of bullets. As the position of the two was getting overrun, Gabrielle contemplated abandoning Sophia by moving to jump down from the roof and run away. However after seeing Sophia's resolve to keep fighting, he decided to stay and help. Sophia had slain all but one of the thugs, but needed to reload. The final thug lunged with his knife at her, but was blocked by Gabrielle. The two fought as Sophia finished reloading. Eventually the thug backed Gabrielle close the edge and knocked him down where he broke his neck and died. As this happened Sophia finally finished reloading and killed the last thug".

"Well, it seems you are not at fault for the mission's shortcomings" Cooper said with a soft chuckle. "Thank you for the mission report. That will be all gentlemen".

To be continued in Part 3


	6. Chapter 5: Secret of Police Group 781

Hey there again! Here's part 3 of chapter 3. Remember to review, PM and all that fun stuff!

4 years before z-day Quiet Restaurant Philadelphia, PA 2AM

After getting showered up and packing his gear up in his locker, Phil met up with Saya and Alistar to grab some late dinner. The members of 781 who were forced into joining because they were charged criminally were forced to live in rooms in that basement, while the members who were part of 781 on their own free will were allowed to leave in their free time. Phil and Alistar had joined because they wanted to protect the public while Saya's case was a bit more complicated. Ever since Saya moved to the city of Philadelphia at the age of 12, he has been a bit of a womanizer. Phil sometimes jokes around and says that Saya changes dates like he changes clothes. One of those girls claimed Saya raped her when he was 13. Rather than serving time in juvenile prison, Saya was given the option to join squad 781 due to his jujitsu abilities. Early in his time in 781, it was proven that the girl's accusations against Saya were false. However, Saya enjoyed his work, having become closer to both Alistar and Phil, so he decided to stay.

The three walked into their usual eatery of choice, a medium sized burger restaurant a mile or two from the police station, and ordered their usual meals of choice. They enjoyed each other's company and the meals were pretty good too. Towards the end of the meal Phil remember what Alistar had said before.

"Hey Alistar, didn't you want to talk with me about something?" Phil said with a smile. "Are you still having girl problems bud?"

"Aww shut up you wanker" Alistar said, smiling and giving Phil a playful shove. "Yes, there was something serious I wanted to talk to you two about" he said, with a now serious look. "I think the three of us should quit 781."

"What!?" Phil and Saya said simultaneously. "Why should we quit?" Phil asked. "Is there a good reason to?"

"There are actually a few reasons I have for considering quitting" Alistar said. "I have reason to say that the organization as a whole has been corrupted away from its original purpose of protecting the public from gangs".

"Well if there are good reasons, then go ahead and tell us? Also why do you just trust us with this?" Saya asked.

"I trust you two more than anyone else on the team" Alistar said to his two friends who both looked on with confused and slightly worried looks on their faces. "Tell me, what do you notice about most of the recent recruits to the group?"

"Well, most of them were convicted of some kind of violent crime and are addicted to violence. They aren't interested in saving people like we are, instead they only want to commit wanton violence in the name of 'justice'" Phil said with a regretful look in his eyes.

"You know the exact records Phil" Alistar said. "How long has it been since someone not convicted of something been accepted into 781?"

"It's been over two months…" Phil said, starting to see where Alistar was going.

"And of the casualties during the past five missions, how many have been volunteer joiners of 781?" Alistar said, trying to drive his point home.

"Of the 13 causalities, 10 of them had been volunteer joiners of 781!" Phil said, realizing what that meant.

"Sweet Christ…" Saya muttered. "It's a goddam purge. All of those deaths couldn't have been an accident". Then Saya remembered when Bradley killed Sara and he remembered that she had volunteered to join a year ago. "Maybe Bradley killing Sara today wasn't an accident. Who's to say that they weren't all killed similarly to how Bradley killed Sara…"

"How many volunteer members are still alive, Phil?" Alistar asked.

Phil leaned back and thought about each member of the group, and then his eyes widened in shock. "Right now it's just us. In two days, Rikio's mandatory service term will be up and if still works for after 781 afterward he would be like us. But other than that no one."

"So we either need to watch our backs or we can quit" Saya said trying to stay optimistic. "That's nothing to really worry about right?"

"That's not even the scary part though" Alistar said as his friends looked at him in amazement. "Think about the location of the last few missions and the objectives".

"The last few places we were assigned… one was a hostage situation at a laboratory, two were two major distributors of mutation based drugs…" Phil said as he thought through each mission. Then, the similarity hit him. "Wait most of the missions were based of something in genetics!" he said.

"Exactly" Alistar said, happy his friends understood. "And you know just like I do that there is another basement level under ours at the police station that only Bradley and his senior commanders are allowed. What do you think goes on there?"

Phil and Saya realized what this meant. "A genetically enhanced force of highly trained psychotic killers…" Saya said. "We have to stop them or something bad could happen. Do you have any idea how far along they are Alistar".

"I asked Rikio about it because I trust him the most of full time residents" Alistar said. "He told me that he hasn't seen anyone get taken out of the barracks at night or anything, so they probably aren't that far along".

Phil looked over at his two friends, his mind made up. "Alistar, you think you could hack the elevator and get us down on that floor?" Phil asked.

"Give me a little time and I'm sure I can" Alistar said. "So I assume you want to go down there too Saya".

Saya smiled. "I'm not about to let you two go down there alone" he said. "The better question is how are we going to get our weapons from the locker room?"

"I'm having Rikio help us with that. While Phil and I were in the office telling Cooper about the mission, I had my flash drive downloading Cooper's hard drive contents. On the way out, I slipped Rikio the passcode to the locker room". Alistar flipped out his phone and smiled. "All I need to do is give him the word and he can meet us with our gear".

Phil grinned as the each of the friends pitched in to pay the tab. "Then what are we waiting for! Tonight we'll find out 781's secrets."

After a quick stop by Alistar's house for some tools, the three made their way to the locked up police station. Alistar made his way to the back of the building, cutting a few wires to disable the buildings security system. Then three made their way through the silent building to the elevator. They enter the elevator, with Phil cutting the power so that someone couldn't call the elevator. Alistar uses a drill to cut a circle out of the bottom of the elevator and Saya lifting out the cut out piece and placing it against the elevator wall. The three climbed down out of the elevator and used the elevator cables to climb down. Suddenly Saya lost his grip and started to fall, but was caught by Phil who helped him regain his grip. "Thanks for the save" Saya said with a look of relief. "I can't afford to have you die too" Phil said smiling back. The three reached the first basement floor and Phil used a tire jack that Alistar handed him to pry open the closed door. Rikio stood at the door. The three climbed out of the shaft to get their weapons and equipment, happy to see Rikio and not someone else. The four then climbed back into the shaft and closed the elevator door while staying deathly silent.

The four eventually climbed to the bottom of the shaft, the lowest basement floor. Alistar pulled out his hacking equipment and got to work on the door. After a few minutes, Alistar was able hack the door. Before they entered the room, Phil turned to the group. "Make sure you have suppressors on your weapons. We can't afford to alert anyone upstairs to our presence here. Also, shoot to kill anything that moves. Understood?" Phil asked with a slight grin of confidence.

The other three nodded and got to work putting their suppressors on. Rikio had just recently ordered a Silenced 1895 Nagant revolver specifically for stealth missions. Being the mechanic he is, Alistar found a way to fit a suppressor onto his Winchester Model 71 Rifle. Saya took out his silencer and twisted it onto the barrel of his AK47. Phil pulled out his MP5KSD, the silencer already attached. Seeing his squad ready, he motioned Rikio and Saya to get near the door. "Once Alistar gets the door open lets breach and clear" Phil said as the others nodded. When everyone was in position, the doors slowly opened and the squad entered the room.

As the four entered the room, the first thing that hit them was the stench of death. "What the hell is this smell" Rikio said, holding his nose. As the group scanned around the room, they saw the rotting corpses of former allies and enemies alike. Some of them appeared to have been chewed to pieces by something. "…stay frosty" Phil said quietly as he walked a bit ahead of the group.

Towards the end of the room, there was a cell. As the group approached the cell, five horrid looking humanoid creatures banged against the cell bars, startling the group. "Just like I thought" Alistar said quietly. "Those must be the failed experiments. It looks like Cooper has been using them to dispose of troublesome people".

Saya saw a button that looked like it opened the next door. "Let's move on guys" he said running towards the button, but Phil grabbed his shoulder to hold him back.

"Wait, this might be a trap" Phil said, grabbing his Oakley sunglasses from his pocket.

"How are those going to help anything" Rikio asked, confused.

"Watch and learn" Phil said with a grin. Phil flipped a hidden switch on his glasses and they glowed white giving him thermal vision. "Just like I thought, that switch doesn't do anything. About five meters in front of us is a laser trip wire that would open the door separating those things from us. The real door switch is inside that cage with them" Phil said with a confident look. "It's also worth noting that those things in the cage don't have heat signatures".

"What are they like zombies" Alistar said laughing a bit to himself. "Because if they are that would be cliché". With this the group had a quick laugh

"I say we just kill them and then open the door afterward" Rikio said, aiming at one of the creatures already.

The four lined up and shot the creatures in the cage down with headshots, to save bullets. Then Phil walked into the opening cage and pressed the real door switch, causing the door at the end of the room to open. This door led into a barren hallway. The hall split and led to two separate rooms. "Let's not split up. We can explore each room one at a time. Plus, we don't know if there are any more traps set up like there were in the first room" Phil said after some thought. The others nodded in agreement.

"Which way should we go first?" Alistar asked, looking back at Phil.

"Hey, I have a coin we can flip. Left if it lands heads" Saya said as he flipped his coin, which landed heads.

"Left room it is then" Rikio said heading to the left room and opening the door with the others closely trailing.

The group walked into the room on the left, which appeared to be a laboratory. Vials in vast rows lined the walls. Some of them were labeled with a variety of names and letters. Rikio filed through the vials and found one with his name on it. "Wait, this is my blood sample. Why is this here?" he said to himself.

Alistar analyzed the lab equipment they had set out, which seemed very expensive. Phil and Saya walked over to the desk in the room, which had a few folders neatly stacked on it. Phil opened one of them and scanned the contents. "Genetic manipulation… using viruses to try to develop superhuman abilities… it's just as bad as we thought it was" he said, shocked by what he was reading. "To think this was going on right under our noses… it seems they are nearing completion of their 25th test batch, which they are calling the Y-virus. If their hypothesis holds true, this serum would grant abilities through mutation based on its recipients DNA and would allow limb regeneration".

"That makes perfect sense!" Saya said, figuring out the virus's purpose. "Cooper is obsessed with getting his real arm back".

"Unfortunately I don't think he plans on just using this stuff on himself" Phil said. "Knowing him, his intentions are much larger than that. Alistar, do you still have some of those explosive charges?"

"Yeah, I have enough on me to destroy this entire building if I wanted to" Alistar said back confidently.

"Good, after we check out the other room I think we should set back their research a bit" Phil said, smiling back at the group. He grabbed as many of the papers as he could stuff into his pocket and then turned to the group. "Let's go check out the other room".

As Phil enters the second room, tears almost came to his eyes. A black haired girl was strapped to a machine which was making some kind of electrical pulses shoot through her body, causing her to scream out in pain and cry. She was garbed only in tattered and dirtied white garb. Visible scars lined her arms and legs. Her dark red eyes stared on vacant and hopeless as her beautiful black hair flowed below her shoulders.

"Alistar, figure out how to turn this fucking machine off now!" Phil yelled, unable to stand any more of what he was witnessing.

"I'm already on it" Alistar yelled as he started looking at the console and pressing a few buttons.

Soon the machine stopped and life returned to the girl's eyes. When she noticed she wasn't alone she quickly unstrapped herself from the device and quickly crawled into the corner. "Who are you?" she said, trying to look tough but in horrible physical condition. "What are you going to do to me?" She picked up a pipe a pointed it at the group. "I'll… I'll have to kill you if you come any closer".

The other members of the group backed off, but Phil still continued to walk towards the girl. She prepared to hit Phil with the pipe but she couldn't bring herself to hit him. All she could was close her eyes and brace herself in fear. However, she was caught completely off guard when Phil hugged the girl instead. "Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you" Phil said rubbing her scarred back softly.

"No one has ever done this for me before… why aren't you like everyone else?" she asked puzzled but enjoying the embrace.

"What do you mean I'm not like everyone else? Has no one ever given you a hug before?" Phil said, equally puzzled.

"No, this is completely new for me" the girl said, blushing a bit. "Is this normal for regular people?"

"Yeah, it usually is normal. Tell me, what is your name?" Phil asked.

"My parents never gave me a name or register my birth, so I don't have an official name" the girl said, with sadness caused by painful memories. "I like the name Maris, so that's what I would go by, if I had friends…"

Phil helped Maris off the floor, making sure to handle her frail, skinny frame gently. "Well Maris, you have friends now. I'm Phil and over there are my friends Saya, Rikio and Alistar. Let's get you out of here, ok?"

Maris looked a bit hesitant about that. "I… I don't know what it's like living out there. How will I learn to live a normal life?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of you" Phil said with a grin that helped clear Maris' doubts. "Alistar, get ready to blow up this place up…"

As he was saying that, he heard a cage open on the opposite side of the room and more of the zombie like creatures moved towards the group. Seeing the creatures, the group opened fire on the zombies while Maris held onto Phil in fear. Unlike the previous room there were about four dozen zombies in that cage, which quickly had Phil and his group surrounded. Overwhelmed by the numbers and running out of ammunition, the group quickly resorted to melee weapons to keep the monsters.

Maris realizes her new friends were in trouble. Angered and with tears in her eyes, she lets go of Phil and her eyes glow red. "Get away from my friends!" she yells as she charges the zombies with her pipe.

"Wait! Think about what you're doing…" Phil says, until he sees the way she was fighting the monsters. She slaughters countless zombies with remarkable speed and strength for her size as the others look on in awe. Her skills at fighting made it seem like she had years of training under her belt and put her on par with the young men who saved her. Within moments the remaining monsters were all dead. After finishing her last target, Maris' eyes ceased to glow red and she collapsed onto the floor. Phil went over to check here vitals and then carried her on his back piggyback style. "Let's get out of here" he said.

The group had difficulty climbing up the elevator shaft with Maris but was eventually able to get the top. Rikio snuck back to his bunk to avoid suspicion while the others climbed to the top and exited the station. As they walked off Alistar pulled out his detonator and pressed the button, causing a shockwave from the explosion to be felt for blocks. After walking a bit farther away from the station, Saya was curious of something. "Who is going to take care of Maris now that we've saved her? I mean she seems like a sweet girl and all, but she's lacking a lot of the fundamental skills and experiences of people her age".

"I'll do it" Phil said, surprising neither of his friends. "I have plenty of extra space for her in my condo and I would enjoy the company. Plus if she is valuable enough to the organization that they kept her locked up on their secret floor, I'm going to need to refine her skills in combat so she can protect herself". The rest of the group nodded as they said their goodbyes for the night and went their separate ways

Back at his condo, Phil got all of his extra pillows and placed him on his couch. He then wrapped Maris up in the warmest blanket he could find and laid her on the couch for her to rest in comfort. Phil sat on one of the opposite coaches and looked at Maris resting peacefully, feeling good about the decision to look after her. _Who would have thought out of all the life and death missions I've been on, the hardest one would be to teach someone _else_ how to be human. I'm glad I live long enough to take on this challenge though._

To be continued in part 4


	7. Chapter 6: Connections

Hello again! Here is part 4 of chapter 3. PM, review and all that fun stuff. Enjoy!

The Next Morning 4 Years before Z day Phil's Condo Philadelphia 10AM

The young girl with the black hair awoke with a start, having nightmares about her past again. But she almost immediately realized that she probably that most comfortable she had ever been waking up. Observing her surrounding, she realized she had been sleeping on a coach and had been wrapped in blankets. She then looked over and saw the young man he met the night before preparing something in the kitchen. Without showing signs of being awake, Maris silently observed Phil, realizing all of the things he was doing for her. Will his family mind me being here, or better yet where is his family? Why is he being so nice to me? No one has ever treated me this well before. Why did he and his friends save me? These and many more thoughts raced through Maris' head as she got up, feeling great after likely the best night of sleep of her life.

Phil noticed the girl about his age getting up. "Good morning sleepy head. I'm making a special breakfast for us. Do you like omelets?" he asked looking over at the girl.

Maris stood there confused for a moment. "What's an omelet?" she asked curiously.

Phil almost dropped the frying pan he was holding in shock, but then he realized that she seemed to not know about a lot of things, which meant he should be patient with her. "It's a really good breakfast dish, so I'm sure you'll like it".

Phil finished the two omelets and the two sat down to eat. For a few moments Maris just sat there tentatively picking at the food as if it was ingrained in her that she wasn't supposed to eat good food. "Go ahead, eat up while it's warm" Phil said, noticing Maris' behavior. Phil reached over putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Just trust me, ok" Phil said with that grin that always seemed to make Maris feel better.

"Ok… I'll try some" Maris said a little unconfidently. She slowly took a bite of her food and once she got a taste her eyes lit up with excitement. "This is so good!" she exclaimed, relentlessly attacking the dish now. "I didn't know food could be this good. Can you make more food like this later?"

Phil smiled at seeing Maris happy. "Sure, I can definitely make meals like that" he said, starting to clear the dirty dishes. "Over on the table there are some new clothes for you. You can throw those rags your wearing away". That morning Phil went and bought Maris some better clothes. He tried to pick clothes on the plainer side because he didn't know what fashions she liked, if any.

After breakfast was finished and Maris got changed, the two sat down on the coach next to each other. "I know this may be difficult for you to talk about, but it would help me understand you better if you told me a little of your backstory" Phil said, trying to balance the urge to get information with care of Maris' feelings.

"Um… ok, if you really want to know" she said shyly. "I was born to two really mean parents. They didn't let me have friends, go outside the house or go to school like all the other kids. Instead they would have me do all of these chores for them and they would beat me even if was doing them right. On some days I would sneak out to try to learn about the outside world, but everyone would always alienate me because they knew who my parents were or I was a stranger to them. Almost everything I learned was through books I read in secret. One day my parents found out that I was reading and came after me with knives. I don't know what came over me then, but I killed them both before they could hurt me. When the police came they found out I was had no birth certificate or name. One of the policemen named Cooper, kidnapped me and started doing experiments on me. Every day they were either sticking needles into me, making me drink stuff or hooking me up to painful machines in the name of finding some 'ultimate virus'. All this time, my only wish is to be a normal girl like everyone else".

Phil put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her red eyes. "I can't promise you that you'll ever be able to be 100% normal. Cooper will probably send his goons out searching for you. Therefore I will need to teach you how to fight. However, I will teach you about sorts of other more fun things too that help you fit in. I promise you I'll do everything I can for you. Sound good?"

"Yea… sounds good" she said, hugging him.

Phil and Maris shared a daughter-father style relationship, living together for the next year. Phil taught Maris many things about life and normal living that she had never know. Maris became a competent fighter, eventually becoming strong enough to fight alongside Phil and his friends as they went about destroying gangs that were still a problem in the city and monitoring 781's actions. But the biggest thing that Phil gave Maris was the belief that there are good people in the world, which was something she didn't believe before meeting him. Eventually Maris followed in Phil's footstep and found work as a police contractor. From time to time they were put on missions together, but they don't see each other often anymore ever since Lane came into Phil's life and Maris' work got busier.

End Flashback

3 years before z day Abandoned Warehouse 3:40 PM

Casper stared blankly at the photo, not believing what he saw. If the wanderer and this girl were that close, why is she helping me and not killing me? Casper thought. "Wait, how do you know him? You know he was the one who did this to me right?" Casper asked, confused.

Maris walked up and snatched the picture away from Casper. "He was the closest thing I had to a father. I know he was the one who did this to you because I watched him do it. And just like me, deep down, I think he hopes that you can change yourself for the better".

Casper hadn't thought of the wanderer as anything more than the person who injured him. However now he sees that he could have easily killed him in multiple instances, yet decided to let him live. As a result Casper had a newfound respect for the wanderer (Phil, but Casper doesn't know him as that).

The black haired girl turned around to leave and stopped for one moment. "If you want to see me again, meet me in alley behind the Center city tavern at 8pm on Friday" she said, hiding her face which was slightly blushed again as she walked out of the room leaving Casper alone.

When Casper left the warehouse he saw an old motorcycle, the keys to which were in the pocket of the pants the girl had given him. He rode the motorcycle home as quickly as he could, only to have his mom tell him that his father had died the day before in drug dealing related violence. Casper was very upset about the loss of his father. The girl's words "what will all the money and cheap fix highs get you when someone important to you dies and you regret not spending more time with them?" kept echoing through his head. That night, as Casper lay awake and stared out of his window, he made a silent vow to himself to never join another gang again and to kick his drug addiction. His new obsession would be to find out more about that mysterious girl.


	8. Chapter 7: The Knife of Trust

Hi again! Here is the fifth part of chapter 3. Enjoy!

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown District, Philadelphia 10PM

A skinny young man with brown eyes, slightly tanned skin and black hair in a mohawk walked down the silent street homeward bound. His name was Noah Calle and he was upset about his friends ditching him again. Whenever those guys see hot girls they can talk to, they ditch me as if I am dead weight. Even if I'm confused right now, they should at least try to understand me. I wish someone could understand my feelings, he thought as he walked down the empty road. Then he heard a deafening scream. Not wasting anytime, he dashed towards the source of the noise. That's when he saw a group of thugs grabbing at a young, defenseless girl. He was about to charge in, but then he stopped himself to think. Wait, I want to save the girl bad but, do I really want to get involved? Sure I know how to kick box, but they have knives and guns so I don't stand much of a chance. But, if I don't do anything they'll kill her, or worse he thought. Unable to make up his mind, Noah stood there in fear…

The girl with the m21 licked her lips in excitement. "This is getting interesting" she said to herself. "I could kill just the thugs. Or I could kill them all, which would be fun". She then stopped and thought about it. "Or maybe… I can wait and see what Romeo does to try to save Juliet, and then make my decision. That sounds like the most fun!" she said with a sadistic smile…

Noah suddenly felt a surge of confidence come over him. Maybe my confidence is what's holding back. I'd rather die in a way of my choosing anyway he thought with his newfound confidence visible on his face.

He charged the group of thugs, kicking the first one in the head. As the rest of the thugs noticed his presence, he quickly tried to take down the ones who had guns on his way towards the girl. After downing a quarter of the thugs with his kicks he finally reached the girl. However, one of the thugs pulled out a concealed gun and shot Noah in the back. He fell right on top of the girl, which sheltered his fall a bit. Noah tried to get back up, but couldn't because he was in too much pain. Layla got up and tried to fend off the incoming thugs, but they were just too strong for her. She tried unsuccessfully to help the Noah get up as the thugs closed in for the kill.

Suddenly a figure dress in all black jumped from a nearby rooftop and threw darts from each hand. Each of the eight darts found their marks and the thugs bodies locked up as they fell to the ground. The women hit the ground and rolled before charging the remaining thugs. The woman advanced on the remaining thugs with blinding speed, cutting them down with one stab of her knife each as the Layla took off her coat to tie around Noah's back where the bullet wound was.

After the mysterious women killed or incapacitated all the thugs she walked over towards where Layla was lying next to Noah, who had just regained consciousness after the bullet wound trauma. "Thanks you for saving us miss..." Layla said until she noticed something. "Wait isn't that the knife…"

Flashback to Chapter 1:

"Oh! I almost forgot" Layla said excited. She took a knife out of her pocket. "Whoa there! Wait… wasn't that the knife that was inside me?" Phil said curiously. "It sure was" Layla replied. "I offered it to Lane, but she said that she doesn't want it. Please give this to someone else you care about". After handing Phil the knife, Layla quickly scurried out of the room. Phil admired the knife, with its old steel shine now stained with his blood and slightly matching the color of the ruby in the handle. I wonder who I'll give this to, Phil thought.

End of Flashback:

"You must know Phil Angelo, and he must trust you a lot!" Layla said.

Hearing this, the women took of her hood revealing her flowing black hair and red eyes. "He's the closest thing I've had to a father" she said smiling at Layla. "I'm Maris. What's your name and who is he?" she said looking at the boy with the gunshot wound.

"I'm Layla. Nice to meet you" the girl said with a genuine smile. "As for him, I don't know him but he did try to save".

"It's Noah" he said lying on the ground, clearly in pain. "Can either of you take me to a hospital? I'm bleeding out over here".

Maris was about to answer him when she saw a sparkle of light in her peripheral vision. "Get down now!" she screamed as she ducked down and pulled Layla down with her.

Milliseconds later a sniper shot was heard and a giant bullet hole was made in the concrete of the building behind where the two had been standing. "Dammit! I missed" the girl on the far away rooftop. She tried to quickly ready herself for a follow up shot, but when she looked down the scope again the three were gone.

Maris set down Noah in the alley as Layla sat next to him. "I'll be right back" Maris said to Layla, who was putting pressure on Noah's wound.

"What are you going to do?" Layla said looking concerned and confused. "The shooter is way too far away for you to use that knife".

"I'm experienced in this sort of stuff" Maris said with a grin that reminded Layla of Phil. "I'll be right back".

With that she took off her cloak and threw it out into the open. When she saw a shot go through it she made her move. Climbing, running, wall jumping and bounding between buildings, Maris rushed towards where the girl was camped out. Panicking seeing Maris rushing towards her, Sophia started shooting at her wherever she popped out but Maris was always ahead of where she was shooting. Soon Maris was only a building away from Sophia. Sophia raised her rifle to shoot Maris who was now in clear view. However, her heart sank when she heard the empty magazine click when she pulled the trigger. Shit! I was so focused on killing her that I forgot to keep track of my mag count Sophia thought.

Sophia tried to quickly load a new magazine into her M21 sniper rifle, but as she did Maris pulled four darts of the bandolier strapped to her arm while she continued closing the distance. As Sophia finished loading the clip, Maris jumped up and threw three of the darts. Sophia sidestepped the darts, but Maris had anticipated that. Maris threw the fourth dart to where Sophia had dodged to and it hit Sophia in the arm. Though Sophia removed the dart from her arm quickly, she soon felt her arm and shoulder go limp from the paralysis. I can't move my arm! Sophia thought. I'm going to have to try to use my pistol.

Sophia struggled to reach for the pistol holstered on her leg as the poison slowly started to spread over the rest of her body. She gripped the pistol and slowly drew it, aiming at her target. But as soon as she was about to fire the pistol was knocked out of her hand by Maris' knife. Maris then landed a powerful kick into Sophia's side, causing Sophia to slide along the roof unable to get up.

Maris picked the sniper off the roof with one hand and brandished the knife with the other, moving towards the other girl's neck. Maris' dark black hair and red eyes were in stark contrast to Sophia's white hair and blue eyes. "Who are you and why were you targeting innocent people?" Maris yelled with an angry glare.

"Oh boy you're so scary. I think I might just wet myself" Sophia said sarcastically. "Actually, you remind me of someone who always said the same thing. Don't kill this, don't target that. It always used to piss me off".

Maris plunged the tip of her knife into Sophia's chest. "Answer the question dammit!"

"Alright, alright jeez" Sophia said, laughing weakly. You won't even let me have any fun. I'm Sophia, a mercenary sniper just having some fun. So how do you know Phil Angelo? He used to be unit commander of mine."

Maris plunged the rest of her knife into Sophia as blood started to drip down onto the roof. "You still haven't answered my question" Maris said angrily. "Why are you here?"

"Well I was just going to do some target practice at first with Romeo and Juliet down there" Sophia said smiling and trying to irritate Maris to see what she would do. "But then you came down to save them, right Maris? You have a huge bounty on your head to bring you in dead or alive. I was going to use those two to provoke you and then kill you. It nearly worked too. Don't you agree that it was a great plan?"

"I will ever let you harm innocents while I still stand" Maris said. "It's the moral he stressed the most".

"So you do know Phil" Sophia said condescendingly. "So you're the next girl in the line of girls that he trains and gets to serve on his squad. How's it being he his worthless pawn?"

With that rage filled Maris' eyes and she viciously twisted the knife into Sophia as she cried out, writhing in agony. "I'm not his pawn" Maris shouted. "I am my own person! And don't you dare insinuate that Phil is a bad person! He was like a father to me. Those foolish words will be your final ones".

With that Maris walked close to the edge of the roof and held Sophia over it. Then in one smooth motion she withdrew her knife from her chest and let her fall. Hearing the sound of her bones snap as Sophia hit the ground, Maris smiled. Maris picked up the pistol Sophia had tried to draw and then ran to return to Layla and Noah.

Layla seemed relieved to see Maris return in one piece, but Noah looked to be in worse condition. Maris took the pistol and gave it to Layla. "You should go home now" Maris said to Layla as the later nodded. "If any more of those thugs come for you, don't hesitate to shoot them".

With that Maris grabbed hold of Noah and bounded off onto the rooftops to try to get him to the hospital fast. Fortunately Maris was able to reach hospital in time for Noah to be alright. However, something else startled her. There was an abnormally large amount of teenagers, especially girls, being cared for. On one of the TVs in the room a news report stated that an abnormal amount of kidnappings and gang related violence was occurring tonight around the city. This seems pretty major. I guess I should let him know Maris thought.

Elsewhere

Phil, Rexen and Lane ran through the city streets on their way to Alistar's house. Phil would definitely need his help if what he thought was occurring was the truth. Suddenly Phil's phone rang and he opened it to find a new text. The text was from Maris and read 'something major is going on in the city. There are reported mass kidnappings and violence the city in the city. I've pinpointed the location the gangs seem to be bringing the kidnapped people'. The rest of the message was an address of a warehouse on the other side of the city. Realizing there was no way he could get there quickly on foot, he sent out two texts and dialed a number on his phone…

Elsewhere

Sophia cried out in agony as she crawled across the cold concrete, leaving behind puddles of blood. Pulling herself into her car, which she just got on learners permit, she drives as quickly as she could towards the hospital. _One day I'll get my revenge on that bitch and the one who trained her!_ Was the thought that drove her to stay conscious as she sped along the quiet road…

Continued in Part 6


	9. Chapter 8: Memories and Secrets

Hi there again everybody, Lazersword88 back with another part of chapter 3. Please remember to review, favorite and PM me with any questions that you might have about my story.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown Hospital, Philadelphia 10:30PM

Sora sat in an empty patient's room with a gloomy look on her face. A few minutes before she had arrived with a badly injured girl she barely knew named Alice in her arms. The doctors told her that Alice's injuries were serious and rushed her into the emergency room for immediate treatment. _What if all my efforts to save her wasn't enough?_ she wondered as she combed a finger through her soft black hair. _What would Phil be thinking now? He would be calm and patient I bet_ she continued to think as a loud bang against the door startled her.

A nurse rushed into the room and started to make the bed beside the one that Alice had been laying in. A girl dressed in all black carried a young man into the room and set him on the bed. His chest was wrapped in a young girl's sweater, which looked to be holding back bleeding.

"The doctors will bring you in to operate when they get the chance, but since your injury is not life threating we will have to wait until all the severe cases are dealt with" the nurse said.

"Please do hurry, I'm not exactly laying on a sunny beach over here" Noah said somewhat cynically.

"Wait, why are there so many emergency cases tonight?" Sora asked.

"I don't know" the nurse said. "I have to go to the next patient so bye".

The nurse exited the room and Noah slowly fell asleep on the bed. As she did the girl dressed in all black went to the sink in the room and washed the blood of her hands. But then Sora noticed something.

"Um… miss, why is there blood all over your arms and hands? You couldn't have gotten that just by carrying him here" Sora asked, slightly frightened of the girl now.

"I had to fight against the person who shot him" the girl said looking over to Sora with slight disdain.

"So you had to fight against thugs too?" Sora asked. "Do you think this going on all over the city?"

"I know it is" the girl said as sat down in the chair next to Sora's. "My name's Maris".

"I'm Sora. So where did you learn to fight?" Sora asked noticing the knife that Maris carried.

Maris took her necklace, flipping it open to show her the picture of Maris and Phil. "He's the one who taught me."

Sora was shocked by this. "You know Phil too?!" Sora said, shocked that someone could know Phil without her knowing too.

Maris looked surprised. "If you want to know how I know Phil, I need to know how you know him" she said, looking at Sora suspiciously.

"Ok so many years ago…" Sora began.

8 years before z-day City Orphanage 9AM

Sora slowly opened her electric blue eyes after being poked several times. Startled, she quickly flung herself unto her feet but realized it was just the girl on the bunk over, Layla.

"Ummm, sorry to startle you" the shy six year old with the bright green eyes said. "Can you eat breakfast with me?"

"Sure!" Sora said with a smile. "Just let me get into some better clothes and we can go."

Sora sort of felt bad for the little girl, who was new to the orphanage. Layla and Sora have similar experiences in losing their parents early in their childhood. However Sora had a much easier time of fitting in at the orphanage then Layla because she was a bit of tomboy while Layla preferred to act as more of a loner. Sora was known for fighting bullies at the orphanage, being particularly fearless. She was probably one of Layla's only friends at in the entire orphanage.

The two headed to the dining hall. "What are you going to get" Sora asked, smiling to trying to brighten Layla's neutral mood.

"I'm not hungry" Layla said. "I'll go get us some seats".

"I'm getting you something anyway, no matter what you say" Sora said with a concerned look on her face as she put her hand on her young friends shoulder. " I know you're still not over what happened to your parents, but they would want you to eat and get strong for them".

With that Sora got in line and Layla found two seats towards the back of the cafeteria. Layla looked around nervously for a bit while Layla got two of just about everything the cafeteria was serving. Suddenly a group of boys surrounded Layla, with looks of ill intent on their faces. Sora, noticing what was happening, quickly set the food down on another table and went to help her friend. However, Sora was not paying attention to the people she was running past and soon founder herself surrounded by an even larger group of delinquents.

A larger boy wearing a multitude of chains and necklaces, most of which had been taken through bullying other orphans, stepped out of the crowd. "Well if isn't that bitch Sora. You've been a pain to me and gang for too long. Grab her boys!"

As the other people in the cafeteria watch, the boys start to advance on Sora. She knocks a few of them out with kicks to the face, but is eventually grabbed and held. "Let go of me" Sora said, not losing any of her fight.

The boy with the chains walked towards Sora. He was 12 years old, three years older than Sora. "You have a nice body for such a young girl" the boy said as he ran his finger over her light creamy skin and pulling on her soft, elbow length black hair.

Without warning, Sora bit as hard as she could into his arm which caused him to scream out in pain. "You little bitch!" the boy said angrily. "Someone fetch me my metal chain".

Another boy soon brought him a plain metal chain. He then approached Sora again, swinging his chain in a circular motion. "If you promise to be my slave now I won't break every bone in your body" the boy said with an evil grin. Sora spit in his face and had a furious look on hers. "Fine then, let your punishment begin!" he said as he swung the chain as hard as he could towards Sora's stomach. _I wish there was someone who could save me and Layla right now_ thought Sora as she braced for impact, a single tear rolling down her face.

But nothing hit her. Sora slowly opened her eyes to see a taller boy with tan skin and brown curly hair standing in front of her, having caught the chain. The boy looked back at Sora and smiled, giving her a thumbs up. _Who is the guy? Why is he helping me? He caught that chain and didn't even flinch! Are my prayers being answered?_ Sora thought.

The boy walked toward the chain wielding bully as the gang members and bystanders surrounding the commotion looked on in awe. "I was trying to eat my breakfast sandwich in peace but you guys had to try something didn't you" the boy said with a grin that scared the shit out of the gang members. "Is trying to beat up girls younger than you really going to make you look tough" the boy said. "Or are you afraid to fight someone like me?"

"…Ph…Phi…Phil!" the gang's leader stammered. "You must be mistaken! We were just talking and having some fun…"

Phil ran towards the gang leader and kicked him in the face, hearing a slightly satisfying cracking in the bullies jaw. While he was dazed Phil punched him hard the chest, hearing ribs shatter. He then tucked his shoulder and slammed into the bully, causing him to sprawl out over the ground. Walking over to his downed foe, Phil shot a look at the other gang members, just daring them to try to stop him. As the Phil reached the boy with the chains, he lifted his foot up as the helpless boy looked on fearfully. "Consider this my hello then!" Phil said as he slammed his foot down on the boys crouch, sending high pitched screams echoing over the cafeteria.

Phil walked back over to Sora and beat down the two boys holding her. "I'm Phil. What's your name cutie?" Phil asked with a grin.

"Ummm… I'm Sora. Nice to meet you" Sora said shyly, surprised by Phil's very outward demeanor.

"I've heard about how you fight those bullies" Phil said. "I do pretty much the same thing. Want to eat breakfast with me after we beat up these losers?" Phil asked, holding out his hand to the girl.

"Sure, I would like that" Sora said, smiling and taking his hand.

*17 downed bullies, 9 broken bones and one manhood later*

Phil wiped the sweat of his brow as he walked over to Sora, who was still pounding on the face of the last guys she downed. "Sora, I think he's down for the count. You can stop now" he said as he reached down to give her a hand up.

Sora took his hand and they looked around at the people surrounding them, who were clapping, smiling and cheering. Realizing she was holding Phil's hand, she blushed but she didn't want to let go. "Thanks for helping me" she said slightly timidly.

"Don't worry about, we're friends now" Phil said with a grin. "You don't have to thank friends for helping you out".

"We're friends?" Sora asked, taken aback.

"As long as you want to be, I want to be" Phil said.

"Sounds good to me" she said. "Wait, what happened to Layla…oh my god…"

A few tables over about six bullies lay bruised and beaten on the floor. Phil felt like his jaw hit the floor when he saw this. "..Ho…how did you do that?!" Phil said, comparing the little girl to the boys nearly twice her age who were all over the floor.

Layla looked at Phil a little nervously. "Well, I just grabbed this pipe in the corner and when they came at me I just swung it hard, closed my eyes and thought of my parents".

"Well, you certainly are stronger then you look" Phil said as the three shared a laugh. "Let's grab some more food and eat it outside. I don't want to be standing around these bullies when one of the orphanage security members comes around" he finished as the other two nodded in agreement.

From that day forward the three became quite good friends, eating almost all their meals together. Phil and Sora in particular became close to the point of being inseparable. Together, they were able to make a remarkable impact on how much bullying went on in the orphanage. But it was more than just that. Sora was Phil's first real friend. Phil was always a tougher person who would gain friends by helping those being bullied, but he felt insincerity in the friendships he formed that way. He believed they were only his friends for protection from bullies. However, Sora was different for him. They spent their time together and fought side by side as equals. They shared all of their thoughts, feelings and secrets with one another. On clear nights, they would lie down together on a grassy patch and eat chocolate chip cookies (Sora's favorite) while watching the stars. Many people even thought they were a couple with the amount of time they spent together, but they would always deny it. Eventually, Sora was adopted and it became harder for them to hang out with the orphanages strict curfew times. This was part of the reason Phil left the orphanage. As soon as the two got cell phones they would text all the time, but it was still hard for them to meet in person because Sora lived in the higher up district on the opposite side of town from Phil's apartment. However when Sora's family moved near where Phil lived when Sora was 14, the two became super close again.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown Hospital, Philadelphia 10:40PM

"Oh ok, so your close friends then" Maris said as Sora nodded. "I guess should tell you how I know him…"

(Read the last three parts for that story)

"So he was like a father to you!" Sora said as her blue eyes flashed with excitement. "It would be so cool to have Phil as a dad! But wait, if you two are so close why haven't I seen you around?"

"I'm trying to live on my own now" Maris said, with a bit of sadness in her eyes. "A lot of people have been trying to capture or kill me recently and I don't want to get Phil or his girlfriend involved".

"Wouldn't being around Phil help protect you?" Sora asked inquisitively. "There has to be a reason you're not telling me".

Maris looked around the room for a minute, unsure if she could tell a girl she just met about her feelings. "Whenever I've been around him, I get these weird feelings I've never had before" Maris said. "It's almost like I want him to be more than a father figure for me…" she said as her cheeks blushed a little.

Sora wrapped an arm around the surprisingly cold feeling girl and giggled. "That just means you have a little crush on him" Sora explained happily as Maris looked on surprised. "That's completely normal for kids our age. Heck, if you want to know a little secret, I've had a crush on him for a long time".

Maris looked surprised. "Really? At least that makes me feel a bit better".

After she finished the nurse barged into the room with Alice unconscious in a wheel chair. With Sora's help, the nurse got Alice back into the bed and then took Noah out of his bed. The nurse smiled at the two girls and then wheeled Noah away.

With that, Sora got up and started to leave. "I have to get back to Phil's house soon" Sora said. He needs my help with all of these kidnappings happening tonight".

As she started to leave, Maris grabbed Sora's arm, startling Sora. "I need to come with you" she said.

"Why, is there something you need to tell Phil?" Sora asked, confused.

"I need to tell him that the reason these kidnappings are happening is because… organization 781 is trying to find me" she said as Sora's eyes grew large…

Elsewhere

The speakers were playing loud hip-hop at a high school party near the warehouse district. Saya and his best friend Aito sat on couches, both with beautiful girls sitting in their laps. Saya shot the wild black haired boy sitting across from a grin as the on his lap ran her fingers through his spiky brown hair. Two shadily dress guys came through offering the pair glasses of alcohol and drugs, but the two refused. They weren't at this party to have a good time. Seeing their target, a local gang drug dealer, enter the room and climb up the stairs with a drunk looking girl, the two gently pushed the girls sitting on them aside and nonchalantly made their way up the stairs. Waiting for the coast to be clear, the duo both drew their silenced Nagant 1895 revolvers and burst into the room. They held both the girl and the dealer at gunpoint. Once they realized the girl had no intention of interfering, they threatened her into silence and focused their attention on the dealer in front of them.

Aito grabbed the man and held the revolver against his head, while Saya paced in front of the man. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way" Saya said, staring intently into the man's trembling eyes. "Where is your gang's drug and weapons catch?"

"Why would I tell you…" the started to say, before he was punched hard in the face.

"Hard way it is then" Saya said angrily. "I'll ask one more time. Where is the catch? If I have to repeat myself again, you're going to need a lot of facial surgery".

"I swear I don't know" the dealer said trembling. "I just get the drugs from someone else on the street and then hand their portion of the profits off to them in the same way. Please don't hurt me!"

Aito then threw the man hard onto the floor and the two turned to leave. "You two are so dumb" the dealer said as he quickly went to draw a concealed gun.

Before he could draw it, the two men turned around and each shot one bullet from their silenced revolvers. Both bullets hit the man's head, causing it to explode everywhere. The boys smiled at each other and gave each other a fist pound as they left the room and then the party.

The two walked alone along the dead quiet streets as Aito stretched his arms above his head. "Well, it looks like we hit another dead end" Aito said, displeasure in his voice.

"Well, look on the bright side" Saya began. "We both got girls to lap sit on us for a half an hour and we got to use these new guns we just got".

"Yeah, your right" Aito said with a shrug. "I'm just interested in learning where these new drugs entering the school are coming from. As student council president, if these drugs run rampant over the school, I'll be the one to blame".

"But it's not all about the student council thing, am I right?" Saya asked with a funny face.

"Going around shooting people and checking out ladies like James Bond with my best friend is a pretty good incentive too" Aito said smiling. "When you told me about the secret police and started training me, I know I was a bit shocked. But now I love this!"

Suddenly Saya's phone rang. Saya looked at the phone and picked up the line. "What can I do for you, Phil?"

To be continued in Part 7


	10. Chapter 9: Cooper

You guys ready for Chapter 4? I am really excited to write this chapter. This chapter will introduce 11 new OCs to the story (note some of them were listed on my original character list in Chapters 1 but haven't appeared until now). However not all of them will survive this chapter. Strap yourself in, because this chapter will be one wild ride!

Make sure to pay attention to the dates when the scenes are switching. If not you may get confused. Take a mental not of whether a forward or backward jump was made.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Hidden Warehouse Laboratory 9PM

Cooper sat behind a desk with a series of vials, picking a few up and staring at the contents. Leaning back in his chair and pulling on the ends of his mustache, Cooper prepared himself mentally for an important meeting. Resetting his chair, he turned his computer on to have his meeting with his monetary backers from Japan. He explained to them the progress he was now making on the virus. The virus was almost weapon functional and the results of his first hand selected test group were just about in. His backers from the Japanese government seemed pleased at his progress. After about a half an hour, he finished the meeting.

Walking out of his lavishly decorated new office, he walked into the center of the warehouse. There hundreds of teens, mostly teen girls, were being held captive in large pens like cattle. When Cooper needed new test subjects for his virus formula, he would get some of his trusted 781 agents to find strong looking individuals from the crowd. The virus was still in prototype form, so there was a large chance of an error occurring those it was used on. But to Cooper these were acceptable risks. His only desires for the project were to increase the funding to reestablish an underground 781 like organization and to get a real right arm again.

Cooper looked down from a catwalk balcony at the teens that his underlings had captured. Sure, it took some convincing to get the city's thugs on his side, but he planned to betray them once the new 781 grew powerful enough. Cooper smiled softly at the results of years of research and planning that were under his feet, ignoring the ethics of his actions. He saw some of the girls were panicking, looking for a way out. Others sat there crying. But most of them just found a friend and were talking with them.

Cooper walked down to the first floor, entering the room he had been traveling to. There a scientist met him, clipboard in hand. "How did the first batch of Y virus tests go?" Cooper asked, with the same type of anticipation as a kid about to open presents on Christmas day.

The scientist pushed his glasses with a concerned look on his face, fearing the news he had to report. "Of the original ten test subjects, eight girls and two boys, only two girl's bodies accepted the virus" the scientist said. "The other eight are just mindless cannibal husks now."

The scientist looked on in fear as Cooper walked towards him raising his hand in a fist. To his surprise, the middle aged man set his hand on the scientists shoulder. "Relax, there is nothing for you to be worried about" Cooper said with a bit of smile. "I honestly was expecting there to be no cases of success in the first trail batch. I would like to see the successes."

The scientist, much calmer now, walked towards two air sealed chambers in the back of the lab area. "As requested, we have already killed all of the husks humanely with a bullet to the head each" the scientist said. "The two remaining subjects are still undergoing our brainwashing methods, to varying degrees of success".

Cooper and the scientist walked up to the first of the windows. Cooper looked into the air sealed cell to see a short and lean girl with light blue hair tied to the chair in the center of the white room. She looked to be in serious pain, shaking and trembling with her eyes closed. Cooper admired the beauty of the girl, slightly regretting the pain he was subjugating her to. But he believed that all that he was sacrificing would be worth it if he could get his arm back.

"That girl is Korina Adachi, a sixteen and a half year old high school student" the scientist said with a slightly perverted grin as he stared into the room standing next Cooper. "Though she seems to be an accomplished student, nothing from her listed activities inside or outside of school would indicate that she would be a gifted fighter. However five fours ago it took a quarter of Bradley's men's deaths to trap her and almost all of Bradley's strength to defeat her. Bradley reported that she was an exceptionally well self-trained swordswoman, using many nonconventional techniques. Bradley also said that she had to use his virus ability on her, which is both a testament to her power and aiding us in the brainwashing process. She should be completely malleable to our whim soon".

"Good, this is great news" Cooper said grinning peacefully. "We could use another competent fighter in our fold. What ability do you postulate the she might gain from the virus?"

"This sort of guesswork is what makes my job fun" the scientist, crossing his arms. "In most cases the virus builds strengths in areas that the host is already skilled in. Since Korina seems to have above average combat skills and threat perception, I hypothesize that her ability will be related to that."

Cooper smiled but then thought of something. "What ever happened to Bradley" Cooper asked, a look of confusion appearing on his face. "He should have been back and debriefed by now."

"I can answer that for you" said a man in a combat vest said, being carried into the room on two thug's shoulders.

"What happened to you and your squad?" Bradley asked, looking at the man's injured leg.

"My leg was pierced by a crossbow bolt" the injured man said. "As for the rest of my squad and Bradley…"

*The Soldier tells Cooper about the events of Chapter 2*

"… and by the time another team found us, I was the only survivor" the soldier finished.

Cooper punched one of the metal walls so hard it left a dent in it. "God dammit!" the man with the eye patch howled. "That traitor Phil and his friends are going to be trying to stop our plans us again. They've already set me back over a year once!" But then Cooper thought of something and smiled. "Wait, we've been approaching this the wrong way" the middle aged man said, stroking his mustache. "We shouldn't try to hide from them. All we need to do is lead them here, right into a trap. Once we defeat them, we can use them as subjects for the virus test".

The scientist looked unconvinced. "Are you sure that will work sir? Phil is not only one of the best combatants you've ever produced, but he has also proven to be quite resourceful in the past. Also, other than his other former 781 followers, we know nothing about his other friends. Especially that blue haired one that went toe to toe with Bradley. The fact that someone could be that strong yet we have no knowledge of them concerns me".

"It's not like we have any other options" Cooper said. "We need to delay Phil's progress, set the trap and continue to produce more combat worthy operatives from those we have captured so far". Cooper looked over to the two gangsters carrying the wounded man. "Get him to the sick bay. Then tell Lex, Anders and Stanley I have work for them".

As the others left the room, Cooper and the scientist moved to the second cell, looking through the window. Inside the room sat a dark skinned with mid-length raven hair. She was average height and had a star shaped scar on her left hand. "This here is Zola Adeen" the scientist continued. She was captured and chosen for testing completely by chance. She is thirteen years old. Besides her straight A's in school, we have no knowledge about her activities or possible combat skills. However, something both intrigues and frightens me about her".

Cooper thought he saw what his co-worker was mentioning. Unlike Korina who looked to be suffering because of the virus and brainwashing, Zola just sat completely still with her eyes closed. "Are you sure you gave her the virus?"

"Yes, we are 100% sure we did" the scientist said, still observing the caged girl. "However she is displaying a level of mental fortitude the likes which we have never seen before, even in our most accomplished agents. But I have very high hopes for this girl" the scientist said, smiling again.

"Why would that be?" Cooper asked, confused.

"It is been observed from the agents and subjects we have tested on so far that the longer it takes for the brainwashing and the virus to completely settle into the subject's DNA, the stronger the ability they gain. However it has never taken any of them longer than 15 minutes to taken in the virus and it has been 3 hours since Zola was injected but there is still no sign of the virus taking hold. We have begun the brainwashing process on her, but that is not showing any signs of working either."

"You mean to tell me the specialized machinery we bought for the brainwashing is failing? She must be quite the tough customer then" Cooper said, looking at Zola sitting in the cell peacefully. The machinery that Cooper had implemented was hooked onto the back of the subjects head and sent specialized pulses to the subject's brain. In their thoughts the subjects would confront a form of themselves, manifested by the machine and used to break the subject's mental will by using their own conscience and fears against them.

Inside Korina's mind

Korina awoke floating in an all-black void. "Where am I? What's going on?!" she shout out into the void.

"Isn't it obvious?" a voice said that sounded like it surrounded her all sides. "You were captured and now I'm going to break down your delicate, pretty little mind".

"Who's there?" Korina yelled as she quickly turned in all directions, trying to locate the source of the voice.

Suddenly a figure appeared behind her. Korina quickly turned around and was shocked at what she saw. She was staring at herself.

"I'm you silly" her shadow said. "Or better yet, I'm all of those little secrets and emotions that you keep locked up in that heart of yours. I know everywhere you've been, everything you've done and just how worthless a person you are. I've come her to make you think a little more like I do" the shadow said, smiling evilly.

"It's just a dream, it's just a vision" Korina stammered fearfully. "I'll wake up in a just a little, so there's no need for me to panic over a bad dream".

"Can a dream do this?" the shadow asked, appearing behind Korina faster than she could react and putting an icy cold hand on her arm.

Korina tried to punch the shadow, but her fist just went through it. "…Wha…what is going on?..." Korina tried to say as she shook in fear.

"There is no escape, no waking up" the shadow said maniacally, amused at her real self's fright. "You're in an induced sleep and there is no waking up until I have my way with you. You can't possibly win, against yourself".

The real light blue haired girl stared deep into her own eyes. "I'll never lose hope. I have to be around to care for my brother Ikki."

The shadow laughed, which sent the coldest chills Korina had ever felt running down her spine. "Caring about the brat is what motivates you? You must be more stupid then I thought. He's the cause of all your problems!"

"How dare you say that!" Korina screamed, slight tears of anger forming in her eyes. "I'm always there for him and he is always there for me! We are family and that's what family members should do for each other. After what happened to my other brother, he means the world to me…"

"You may care about him, but you can't say the same thing about the other way around" the shadow said smiling. "You are always doing everything you can for him, even devoting your hard earned free time to him. But when you need help, who's there to help you? You basically are his pawn. You even put him ahead of that boy you like…"

Korina's eyes widened. "No, don't go there. I'm not interested in him…"

"Don't lie to me. I am you, so I feel everything you feel. You shouldn't ignore your feelings for Aito…" the shadow said with a grin.

"Stop it!" Korina shouted. "We both know that Aito and my brother don't like each other. I can't be interested in Aito since I have to think about my brother".

The shadow laughed. "That's my point exactly!" it said. "You let your brother get in the way of what you want! You could have so much power, popularity at school and impact on those around you. Instead you choose your brother over all of that. What foolishness! All you will be remembered for is being a worthless, friendless piece of shit that cared about a brother who never even loved her back!"

Korina felt a deep sadness and emptiness inside herself. "You will never move forward unless you get rid of all thoughts of him" the shadow said as it stood behind Korina and moved its hands across her arms, legs and chest. Korina, her eyes becoming lifeless, felt like the hope and life was being slowly squeezed out of her. "Accept me. Accept your dark thoughts and together we will help you acquire all that you deeply desire".

Korina shuddered, fighting with all of her spirit not to give up hope. But eventually it was too much for her. "…I…I accept you…" she said, her eyes sad and dead.

"Very good…" the shadow said. "Now embrace your darkness!"

*Back to reality*

Cooper walked about the lab deep in looked down at all the captured teens, teens lives whom he was in control of, and a feeling sadness take him over. _I hate having to subject these teens to this kind of hell. It reminds me of what I had to go through. But I am so close to my goal! A bit more research and I will finally be able to program the perfect virus. I can finally create my utopia! I will create a world with no sickness, where bodily injuries can be mended in a matter of seconds. A place where the handicapped like me can finally walk free again. A place where there is no conflict or war. I've already got the Japanese behind me. After I'm finished I will recruit the help of other countries to fight one final war. I don't care how many lives must be lost along the way. If I create a perfect world where everyone can live full, happy lives understanding one another, I am willing to pay any price to achieve it…_

_Meanwhile_

As Phil ran with Lane and Rexen towards Alistar's house, he thought about what Cooper must be planning and shook slightly in disgust. _Cooper is probably perusing his goal to heal his arm and build the perfect society again. I read through his lab notes and found out that was he was trying to accomplish a year and a half ago. His 'perfect' logic has multiple flaws though. For starters, no goal is worth mass kidnappings or genocide to accomplish, no matter how good the intention. Second, what if the virus he is concocting behaves unexpectedly and becomes an epidemic. And finally, his society wouldn't grow since everyone would think the same way, if he can even conquer the world which in itself is a big if. There's no way my friends and I will let him succeed at his goal…_

Both Cooper and Phil at the same time:

…_And that is why I must succeed, for the sake of a better world!_

Back in Cooper's Warehouse

With this the shadow and Korina became a single person and Korina awoke a changed women. She walked to the door of the cell and broke it off its hinges with a single kick, startling Cooper and the scientist who were talking outside. Korina walked towards the duo as the scientist cowardly took steps backwards. Cooper however stood his ground and offered the oncoming girl a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet the new you. I'm Major Cooper, the one who made these changes to you".

Korina smiled sadistically, which pleased Cooper. "It's a pleasure to meet my master" Korina said shaking the man's hand. "My name was Korina, but I would like you to give a new name so I don't have to share a name with that weak minded girl".

"Very well, I now officially name you Malice" Cooper said, grinning. "Why are you so quick to call me master?"

"Because I can sense how strong you are" the girl said smiling. "Ever since I woke up I feel as though I can sense where all the strong fighters are. Let's just call it a 6th sense for now".

Hearing this, Cooper smiled. "Good, then we may have some use for you very shortly…"

Elsewhere (Picking up after the events of Chapter 2)

Phil, his new friend Rexen and Lane ran through the empty streets on their way to Alistar Blackwood's house. "How far are we from your friend's place?" Rexen called out, keeping pace fairly easily with Phil and Lane. "We've been running for almost an hour".

"We are getting close. His place should be just a few more blocks up…" Phil said but stopped abruptly.

Phil quickly stopped suddenly and turned around, quickly drawing his fencing saber as his blade deflected an arrow aimed at Lane. "They're behind us!" Phil yelled to Lane and Rexen. "This way" Phil yelled as he pulled Lane and Rexen into a nearby ally for cover

Lane stopped Phil for a moment and handed him her fencing saber. "Are you sure you don't need this?" Phil said quickly but concernedly as Rexen noticed a ladder to the rooftops. Phil and Rexen exchanged nods as Rexen climbed up the ladder to sneak up on the enemy.

"Don't worry about me, I can manage" Lane said, winking and smiling at Phil. "You need two swords more than I need mine, since one of yours is broken. Besides, I've got a surprise for them".

Phil turned and smirked at Lane, understanding what she was talking about before ending their brief exchange to face the enemy.

The person who had fired the rifle was none other than Lex. She was the captain of Cooper's personal mercenary hit squad made up of former 781 agents Anders and Stanley, along with herself. While working for Cooper in 781 Lex and Phil's squads had the highest mission success rates in the organization, thus spur a rivalry between the two. The rivalry was one sided however as Phil tended to not take competing with Lex that seriously and mostly just messed with to watch her explosive temper ignite. Lex smirked slyly as she awaited Phil and his companions to leave their cover. She had been longing for the chance to kill Phil anyone close to him and now that Cooper had given her the order, there was no way she would miss out.

Phil and Lane dashed out of the alley and ran at full speed towards the trio about 200 meters away. Lane ran into another alley as Phil charged straight for the group."Ander's take the shot" Lex said to her squad mate on her left.

"If you say so cutie" the blond flamboyant cloaked gunslinger said as he whipped out his scoped Fn-Fal and aimed at Phil. Ander's was 781's second best marksmen in Phil's time with the organization, behind Sophia. He was always flirting with girls on the squad and sometimes almost jeopardized mission trying to pull off fancy shots to please them. However, it said when he really concentrates, he never misses his mark.

As Ander's aimed through his sights, Phil drew his blade and angled the glare reflecting of his sword from the streetlight directly into Ander's eyes. "I can't see well enough to take the shot. Or maybe I'm just blinded by my love for you" Ander's said, smiling but trying to get the light out of his eyes.

"Shut up you useless perv. Fine, I'll take the shot" Lex said as she drew another arrow and aimed towards Phil. "Say your prayers Phil Angelo… ouaahhh!"

Rexen had gotten behind the trio and now his sword had impaled Lex through her chest. The arrow Lex had readied flew off into the distance, nowhere near its intended target. Lex looked back at Rexen and then at the blade. "Wait… *cough cough* how do u have Bradley's sword?" Lex asked in her dying words.

"I have it because we killed him too" Rexen said with a merciless look on his face. "He hurt someone I care about, so I'm going to make all of you pay for it. Say goodnight!"

With that Rexen made three brutal slices in her chest, forming a z of cuts through her before kicking the long dead commander of his sword. By the time Rexen realized it, the third member of the group of mercenaries had already jumped towards him, winding up to swing his heavy two handed sword. "I'll make you pay for killing my Lexy!" Stanley said as Rexen realized he didn't have enough time to dodge and brace himself to try to block the blow, closing his eyes.

Rexen did hear a clanging sound but did not feel the impact. When he quickly opened his eyes he saw Phil was in front of him. Phil had used one of his fencing sabers to parry the blade slightly to the side so the downward motion hit just next to Rexen. As the mammoth sized Stanley finished his swing, Phil sprinted in closer to him and Rexen ran right behind. "Stab his arms and legs!" Phil yelled to Rexen. "He's done if he can't move fast!"

The two sliced at the 7 ft. behemoth, cutting at his ankles, knees, wrists and arms. Stanley winced in pain as he fell to his knees. However with a roar of rage the giant of a man was back on his feet, fast as ever. "I don't think he's done yet!" Rexen called out to Phil as the two circled around Stanley, making sure to keeping so the giant would have a hard to hitting them.

"If you give me an opening I can finish him" Phil said back.

"Ok let's do it" Rexen said as the two landed next to each other, bumped fists and charged straight towards Stanley.

Seeing the two young men charging at him, Stanley raised his blade high and screamed out. "Now it's time to squish you, you insects!" he said as he swung his hardest.

Rexen tightly grasped his katana and swung the sword to parry. The two swords met in a flurry of sparks. At first Rexen was barely able to keep the blades locked. _Oh my god, this guy hits harder than Bradley_ Rexen thought. _I'm not sure if I can keep this up. My whole body is burning right now._ But then Rexen thought of Alice. He thought about her bloody and in pain, but still managing to smile at him. Just thinking about how much he cared for the girl and how much these police freaks had hurt her filled Rexen with a powerful drive. He pushed back against Stanley's sword so hard that Stanley's eyes bugged out in disbelief. With one final push, Rexen pushed Stanley's blade away, making him clumsily stumble backwards. "Now Phil!..." Rexen said as he collapsed backwards.

"Time for you to reap what you sow, you monster" Phil said, an angered yet calculating looking showing across his face. Pulling out the second saber Lane had given him, Phil dashed towards the off balance foe so quickly his curly hair flowed slightly in the wind behind him. _It's time to use the secret technique that Lane taught me _Phil thought. When Phil reached Stanley he launched a blindingly fast barrage of nine slashes and stabs into the giant man's chest, creating a symphony of pain and torment as though he was conducting Stanley's cries of pain. With one final lunge, Phil stabbed both of his sabers through Stanley's neck. Then he sliced sabers out in opposite directions, turning and walking away nonchalantly as Stanley's body collapsed and his head rolled off.

Breathing deeply, Phil walked over to Rexen and helped him to his feet. "So we're even now right" Rexen said with a smile.

"What do you mean even?" Phil asked with a grin." I'm the one who saved you from Stanley's sword strike".

The two started to run towards where Lane and her opponent were fighting. "Come on man! The one chick would have shot you with an arrow if I didn't stop her" Rexen said back.

"I could've blocked that arrow with my sword anyway" Phil said confidently. "I do appreciate the help though bud".

"Anytime man, anytime" Rexen said as he gave Phil a playful punch. "Are you sure Lane is ok? I mean, she gave you her weapon and all."

"Yeah she should kill that lackey without much trouble" Phil said, confident in his girlfriend. "If you think she is only good at fencing, you're sadly mistaken. She's got a tricks up her sleeve…"

Not too far away…

"Quit toying with me bitch and come out" Anders said shooting anything on the rooftop that moved.

Lane bounded and rolled acrobatically between cover. Ander's flipped the switch on his rifle to make it fire full auto and sprayed bullets everywhere, none finding their mark. "You're unarmed. You'll never beat me" Ander's said, walking dangerously close to where Lane was hiding.

Lane knew that she had to close in on him to beat him. She looked under her jacket sleeve to make sure here secret weapons were still there before standing up and putting her hands on her head. "Fine I surrender" Lane said, trying to sell that she had given up.

"It's about time you did, you baby" Ander's said, licking his lips with a lustful look in his eyes. "After we are done with your friends we're going to have some fun tonight" he said as he led her towards the edge of the roof near where Phil and Rexen were.

Phil and Rexen noticed Lane being held at gunpoint by Ander's. Rexen was filled with rage and wanted to take action, but was held back by Phil. Phil had a calm look on his face, showing that he knew what was about to happen.

"Alright Phil, here's the deal" Anders proclaimed. "I'll let your precious little girlfriend here live if you come with us. If not I'll just kill you and take her for myself. Either way, she is sleeping with me tonight" Ander's said staring at Lane's features.

"What makes you think she would let you do that" Phil said grinning.

Ander's was slightly disturbed with how calm Phil still was. The he thought that all he had to do was push Phil a little more and he would surely break and give himself up for her. "You know, your girl is really nice looking Phil. She's tall, strong and has nice breasts…" Ander's said as he reached to for Lane's breasts and Rexen looked like he was about to flip out.

Suddenly Lane pulled the knives from her sleeves, stabbing the hand that Ander's was reaching for her breasts with one and his crotch with the other. Then she quickly turned around and viciously stabbed his chest repeated before cutting all the way through his neck until his head flew off. While Ander's head was in the air, Lane threw of her knives and they hit Ander's head right in the eyes. Pulling out knives and removing her ruined bloodstained jacket, Lane looked down at the two young men. "No one, except my boyfriend, can touch my breast and live to tell" Lane said with a confident smile.

Phil nodded and smiled, happy that Lane was alright while Rexen was completely shocked. As Lane joined the two on the street, Phil gave his jacket to Lane. "Don't you think that was a little excessive" Rexen asked with a dumbfounded look.

Phil looked over at Rexen and laughed. "And this is coming from the guy who cut a giant Z into someone's chest" Phil said with a knitted brow and smirk on his face.

"Hey, don't blame me. I was in zone" Rexen said defensively.

"Sorry to concern you guys" Lane said to both of them. "My 'surrendering' was all part of my plan to beat him".

Phil walked up to Lane and hugged her. "If you were any real danger I would've have been there in a heartbeat.

Lane returned the hug as the two looked into each other's eyes. "I know you would…" she said before they briefly kissed.

Rexen turned his back and wondered if he and Alice would be that intimate one day. Next thing he knew, Phil had a hand on his should. "Let's get going. We still have a city to save" Phil said, raising his new friend's spirits.

"Let's grab some these guy's weapons first" Rexen suggested. "It may come in handy later".

Lane tossed Rexen Ander's Fn-Fal. "You know how to use this thing" Lane asked Rexen as she threw him the rifle and some full clips.

"Yeah I've gone hunting a few times with my dad. I think I can manage using this" Rexen said finding the drop mag button, fire mode switch and other key features of the gun.

Lane picked up Lex's bow. "I was in archery club for a little bit" she said, smiling at the two like a little girl getting a present.

Phil walked over and picked up Stanley's two hand sword. It was a claymore style sword in great condition. "That thing looks heavy" Rexen stated. "Can you even swing that thing?"

"I can swing this thing one handed if I wanted" Phil said as he proceeded to do just that before sheathing it into the sheath he also took from Stanley.

Phil picked up his phone, sending texts to Rikio and Emiko. He then called Sora and told her to meet him at Alistar's place instead of Phil's. She told Phil that Alice was ok, which relived Rexen greatly when he heard.

The trio finally made it to Alistar's house, where they found him in the garage nervously toying with some machine parts in his garage. "Well if it isn't my old captain and his lovely bird" Alistar said as he shook hands with Phil and gave Lane a quick hug. "Who's the new guy" Alistar said, noticing Rexen.

"This is my new friend Rexen" Phil said a little more laid back then usual. "We saved him and another girl tonight. I have to say he handles himself well in combat for a non-781 member".

Many of the group's weapons caught Alistar's eye. "Holy shit you guys have been busy! Is that Bradley's sword, Lex's bow, Stanley's great sword and Ander's rifle?" Alistar said shocked. You've killed all of them.

"Hey, they were the ones who were attacking us" Lane said with her arms folded.

"Well, I guess they had it coming" Alistar said, going back to his normal demeanor. "Anyways, so what brings you here Phil?"

"Two reasons" Phil said as he set the holster broken sword he had been carrying down on Alistar's workbench. "Bradley's final strike did a number on this sword. Do you happen to be done the swords I commissioned?"

Alistar pulled two new bright shining sabers from a shelf above his workbench. "Yeah I finished these yesterday" Alistar said as he handed the swords to Phil, who swung them around a bit. "The blades on them are a bit wider, but thinner. That way, slicing your targets will be a bit easier. The blade is more durable because it is made with a higher quality steel and titanium mixture. They are slightly longer and heavier than your last blades, but you shouldn't feel a difference. Also I baked in a little surprise in the top of the handle".

Phil felt the handle until he found a small button on the top part of it. Pressing them, two small knives suddenly protruded from the bottoms of the sword handles. "Wow, you sure know how to make me happy" Phil said, observing the secret weapon of his new blades.

"I knew you would like that" Alistar said, giving his friend a light slap on the back. "Just press the button flap back in to retract the hidden blades".

Phil handed Lane her saber back. Then Phil sheathed his new blades and walked over to Alistar as the other two looked on. "How much do I owe you for this?" Phil asked, taking out his wallet, but he was stopped when Alistar grabbed his arm.

"I don't want any money for it" Alistar said. "Just let me hang onto your other old saber that is still in on piece. I've been putting together a collection of some of the stuff from when we were all in 781 and putting it on this shelf here. It helps me remember the friendships we all had and people we saved".

Phil handed Alistar his old intact sword and he set it on the shelf. Just looking at the shelf brought back memories. On it already was one of Alistar's oversized wrendhes, one of Rikio's hatchets, a clip from Saya's ak47 and the pipe Maris used when they first met her.

"Also, you're paying for me the next few times we hit the burger place" Alistar said with a laugh. "So why else are you here? You never said why you were up".

"Well there have been mass kidnappings going on and…" Phil started.

5 minutes later

As Phil finished he noticed Alistar's usual calm replaced by a look of fear. "No, they couldn't have got her, could they?" Alistar said as he held his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Lane asked, holding his arm as Phil put his hand on his shoulder too.

Alistar took his hands of his face to show he was crying. "The reason I was up was to wait for Akane to get home" he said in a scared voice. "She was running really late…"

"No…" Lane said, realizing that Akane, Alistar's sister and most cherished family member, was mostly likely a victim of the kidnapping.

Suddenly Alistar's look of despair turned to one of absolute rage. "I swear if they did anything to my Akane I will tear the flesh off their bones!" Alistar said.

Phil put his hand on Alistar's shoulder which got him to calm down a bit. "Don't worry. I have everything under control" Phil said.

"How can everything be under control?" Alistar yelled as he banged his hands on his workbench. "Teens and kids are getting kidnapped and experimented on and we don't even know where they are!"

"We do know where they are" Phil said grinning confidently. "I have four trustworthy people headed there as we speak to free the captives while we get organized. I also have an inside man, so we can get him to find her in the crowd".

"Who exactly did you send?" Lane asked.

"I sent Rikio, Emiko, Saya and Aito for a stealthy infiltration" Phil said back. "You already know who the undercover man is because you suggested him to me".

"Oh so your using Taki Takeda" Lane said surprised.

Rexen looked surprise. "Wait, why are you sending Taki?" he asked. "I know him from school. There's nothing that special about that guy".

Phil laughs softly. "You're not supposed to know about him" he said. "He's a con artist after all."

Alistar looked doubtful. "But can this guy fight?" Alistar asked. "I don't want my sister dying in there".

"Who do you think taught me how to throw knives" Lane said with a smile.

Suddenly, Sora burst into the room and greeted everyone. "Alice is safe Rex" Sora said with a smile to Rex. "Phil, guess who I met at the hospital…"

"You don't have to talk about me if I'm right here" said a voice behind everyone near a window.

Alistar quick grabbed his machete and turned around, only to see Maris with her hood down near the window. "Jesus Maris, there's the front door you know!" Alistar exclaimed loudly.

"Sorry, I felt like the front was being watched" Maris said softly. "I think Cooper is trying to capture me. Phil, do you know why?"

"From what I read his notes on you, he needs your blood to cancel the changes from virus if it is injected and something goes wrong" Phil said. "Although I'm not entirely 100% sure of that is true. He may have some other reason too. You should keep with us just so they don't catch you. By the way Rexen this is Maris."

"Um… hi" Rexen said, still trying to figure out the mysterious girl and make sense of anything that was being said, since it seemed like everyone in the room knew what was being talked about except him.

Suddenly a man with a war hammer crashed through the front door. "You thought you cowards could run from me" the man said as everyone in the room drew their armaments. "I'm Henry of police 781 and I'm here to…"

Out of nowhere, three gunshots rang out and the man in front of the teens fell dead. A hesitant Layla slowly walked up to the man she shot, kicked him softly to make sure he was dead and then saw her friends.

"Phil, Sora!" Layla yelled as she ran up to the two of them and hugged them both excitedly.

"Um… it's nice to see you too Layla, but how did you get a M9 handgun?" Phil asked shocked at seeing an innocent 13 year old girl just shot and kill someone.

"She gave it to me to protect me" Layla said, pointing at Maris.

"Well it looks like I have some explaining to do…" Maris said.

Five Minutes Later

"Wait, you dropped Sophia off a building" Alistar said excited and happy. "I've always wanted to do that".

"My twenty dollars says she's alive" Phil said with a grin.

"How can you say that?" Lane asked. She got her guts torn up and she was dropped off a building".

"Trust me, she has a strong enough will to survive even that" Phil said back.

Layla's phones buzzed. "…ugh guys. The orphanage is under attack. I just got a message saying to stay inside".

"Alistar, how are your repairs for that old school bus coming?" Phil asked hurriedly.

"It's ready to go. It's not the smoothest ride, but it will manage" Alistar said.

"Alright everyone, let's go. We're saving those kids!" Phil exclaimed.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Shopping District, Philadelphia 1AM

The central shopping district was engulfed in chaos. Buildings burned as people ran in fear of the one man army that slowly approached them. 781 operatives, thugs, policemen and civilians lay injured or dead, strewn haphazardly over the cold pavement. In the center of the road, a girl named Kimino Tomokichi tried to get up. Another woman with short light blue hair and wearing a black cloak moved towards Kimino's friend Faye Grimmstone to kill her while she was down. Kimino was putting every ounce of effort she could into trying to get up to save her friends, but her injuries were slowing her attempts. Kimino's other friend Saika Hoshizoku already lay in pieces elsewhere, dead after being beheaded by this hostile swordswomen.

The women drew her sword, staring at Kimino trying to get up with a twisted maniacal smile. The women's eyes were completely void of any spirit or conscience, which sent chills down Kimino's back. _Why is she doing this?_ thought the purple haired girl still struggling to rise. _This woman is attacking innocent people and her own men. Has she gone insane? I have to stop her before she kills Faye, since it's bad enough she's already killed one of my friends._

The women saw Kimino watching her and started laughing like a psychotic. "I thought fighting a nationally ranked gymnast and her friends would be more of a challenge" the women said, her eyes focused solely on Kimino as her thin bladed katana hovered over Faye. "But I guess this was just a waste of my time. You're all not even worth capturing alive".

Kimino struggled to try to help her friend, couldn't manage to stand all the way. "You… you monster" Kimino struggled to say. "I'll make you pay for this".

The light blue haired women laughed hysterically to this. "You, make me pay? You can't even stand. The only thing you'll be doing soon is dying".

Faye, not able to move but seeing her friend's efforts shoots her a half smile. "Don't worry about me Kimino" she said. "You did your best to save me. Now get out of here before she kills you too".

Kimino let a few tears out. "Why are you giving up now?! We can still do this, you and me" Kimino screamed.

Faye shrugged her shoulders as the mysterious woman raised her blade up, standing over Faye. "I guess I'm just too lazy to get up…*shank*"

The blade slides through Faye easily as she starts to cough up blood. The woman pulls the still impaled body off the ground using just the sword, smiling ear to ear straight into the Faye's eyes as Kimino screamed out to her friend. The women then kicked Faye off the sword and while she is in midair she slices her head clean off.

The cloaked woman then starts to walk towards Kimino, who is just now on her feet. Looking into her assailant's dead, soulless eyes, Kimino lost hope. _How did this happen to us? We were just going to go shopping and suddenly we were being attacked by those armed men_ Kimino thought_. I'm surprised we were able to beat all of them. But that all changed when this woman came and killed two of my best friends. Now I guess it's my turn..._

"Don't take another step towards that girl" said a man who steps out of the shadows of a nearby alley…

2 years and 6 months before z-day Hidden Warehouse Captive Cages 1AM

Nina Flowers wandered about in the cages she was being held in. She didn't know anyone and was frightened by both those around her and the mean looking thugs who were part of the gang that caught her. She knew gangs and criminal organization existed in Philly but she never though she would be captured by one like she was. Nina noticed they had taken a few of the frightened teens out of the cages so whenever scientists would come near the cages, she would push her short frame near the center of the crowd and try not to get noticed. Being stealthy was hard for her, since her naturally instinct was to be loud and enthusiastic. As she was wandering around, she thought she saw a familiar face but something looked different. Moving closer, she could see the persons face clearer.

Nina's face lit up when she realized who it was. "Hey there…"

The other person made a gesture to be quite. "I'm trying to get us out of here…" The person's phone rang. Wait, a phone? Didn't the thugs take peoples phones when they were caged?

The other person turned to Nina and whispered. "I need you to find Akane Blackwood for me. She is probably in this cage or the next one".

Nina turned back towards the rest of the crowd and whisper the name she just heard. Eventually there was a light tap on Nina's shoulder. "I'm Akane" the small, innocent looking girl said. "Why are looking for me?"

"We have to go now" Nina said, pulling the girl along.

The other person in the cage had pulled knives out from packaging that were disguised as breasts. He cut through the flimsy cage bars and the three slipped out of the cage without anyone noticing. The three snuck to the nearest room, which happened to be a janitor's closet, shut the door and locked it quietly. Turning on the dim lights, the other person tore their disguise off. "Man, I was getting tired of wearing this" the young man said tearing of the remains of his costume revealing assassin garb.

Nina hugged her friend the young man. "I didn't know you were a ninja Taki" she exclaimed thankfully as Akane nervously clung to Nina.

"Don't thank me until we find a way out of here" Taki said, forcing a smile…

2 years and 6 months before z-day Outside the Hidden Warehouse 1AM

"Alright guys headset check. Speak back if you're all good" Saya said into his headset as he climbed up onto the roof using a rappelling hook, his equipment dangling about as he climbed.

"Rikio here. Preparing to breach second floor over."

"This is Emiko! Preparing for ground floor breach. I'm really excited to be on my first mission with people other than my Riki-wiki!"

"Emiko, I told you not to call me that around my friends" Rikio said angered but softly.

"Aito here. I'm in position on over watch" he said as he pulled out his Remington model 770 sniper rifle and screwed the silencer on. "Rikio, I feel bad for you dude".

"Hey!" Emikio said back. "We go out you know. I'm just trying to show affection".

"It's cool if you want to do that but missions are serious business" Rikio said. "Save it for after".

"Silencer's on everyone" Saya said. "We need to keep this quiet. Kill the thugs near the alarm boxes first. Emiko, are you sure you're ready for this big a mission? A lot of lives ride on this".

"I'm ready to go" the enthusiastic girl said. "Besides I had Riki teach me, so I know I'm ready".

Rikio sighs. "Well, it's an improvement" he says.

"Ok Aito, cover our asses" Saya says. "No mistakes everyone. Everyone breach in 3…2…1…

2 years and 6 months before z-day Inside Zola Aldeen's Mind 1AM

"…and that is why you are just jealous of me and my actions" Zola continued on. "I've never lied to myself about who I am or what I want because I just stay true to my heart. Sure I care about my brother, but I know he can handle himself. You can't use him to control me".

Zola's shadow was in tears and breaking down emotionally. "I never realized how worthless I am. I'm nothing but a jealous fool. All I want is to accept myself like you do. I can't believe I never realized this until you made me. I'm sorry for trying to take you over. You have so much to live for…"

Zola put her hand on her shadow's shoulder and gave it an accepting smile. "You don't understand. You are a part of me that I just hadn't let out. But we can live our life to together, you and me".

"Really?" the shadow asked, in tears of joy.

"Yes" Zola said. "Just help me wake up and we can be happy as one person".

The shadow hugged Zola and the dark void in her mind collapsed around them. Suddenly, Zola woke up. The machine that was attached to her had shorted out. She knew she was still the same person, but something felt different. She had a feeling of where people are. No wait, Zola can see even more than that. She can see people's thoughts?!

Zola concentrated more on the two guards in the room, guarding her cell. She looked into his mind and found many useful things without even trying to hard such as how to do an unarmed takedown, how to wield the rifle he was carrying and most usefully the passcode to the cell door.

Zola opened the door and surprised the first guard, taking him down and shooting him with his own g36c. The second guard became alert and stood his ground confidently. Zola decided to look into his mind. However, this man had a lot more mental strength fighting off the invasion of his mind with a though of what Zola supposed were his parents. Zola exerted her newfound abilities even more to break past the man's mental barriers, but was disturbed with what she found. She saw his memories of watching his parents get killed right in front of him, his years of training from his military family and that he was being forced to work as a mercenary for the thugs and someone named Cooper who she didn't know because they were holding his little sister hostage. It was then that she knew what she had to do.

She laid her rifle down on the ground and kicked it the man, who locked at her surprised. "If you help me escape, then I can help you" Zola said to the man.

"You don't know anything about me ese" the man said. "What makes you think you can help me?"

"I don't know how to explain it but I saw your memories" Zola said honestly. "Please, if you help me escape I can help you find and rescue your sister".

With the man's lit up with shook and a bit of hope. He kicked the rifle back to Zola's feet and motioned for her to follow him. "Fine I'll help you" he said coldly. "But it's only to save my sister".

The two bolted through the warehouses halls and rooms. "So what's your name" the man asked, trying to sound despondent but really hiding the fact that he was blushing from checking out Zola's features.

"I'm Zola Aldeen" she said happily, wanting to get to know her new partner better. "What about you?"

"Um… I'm Ramon Alonzo" he said, full on blushing now. "Nice to meet you."

Zola laughed a little. "You're funny" she said smiling. "At first you were acting all serious, but now you can't keep it together".

"Hey now!" he said back. "Let's focus on escape for now".

The two raced down the halls, looking for an easy way out when they heard a loud bang and the building shook…

2 years and 6 months before z-day State Orphanage 1AM

The battered 781 operatives tried to hobble and crawl away from the person who had just defeated them. The girl walked towards her defeated opponents, her long purple blue hair swaying as it trailed behind her. Some of the orphanage kids popped their heads out of the window to view the scene. "Wow she must be as strong as Phil" on kid said to another.

"No way" said another kid. "No one can ever beat Phil"

The girl with the wooden practice sword chuckled to herself a bit. To think that she just happened to be here in Philly for a national kendo tournament the following week. It was also quite lucky that she stumbled upon these thugs trying to kidnap kids from an orphanage. She would never let that happen in her sights so she intervened. The opponents she faced were interesting though. Some appeared to be gangsters, others were dressed more like policemen but they were around her age. Some even seemed to have developed superhuman powers. Not that it was enough to stop her though. Unless they were truly disciplined, they would never be able to stop her finely trained swordsmanship. She was just glad to be there to save the people. Even so, she wouldn't lie and say she disliked the fighting. She more than anyone, loved the rush of battle, even if she had trouble accepting that side of herself.

She walked up to one of the still moving teens dressed in police garb. "You don't look like you're from around here" the downed man said. "Before you kill me, could you honor me by telling me your name?"

The women lifted up her wooden sword to deliver the final blow. "I will honor your request. The name is Saeko Busujima" the girl said as her sword slammed into the man, cracking his skull.

To be continued in Chapter 4B


	11. Chapter 10: Never Leave You

Hey there everyone, Lazersword88 here. Long time no see, am I right? I've been busy with my school work, but I've been making steady progress on the next big chapter. I have a feeling it won't disappoint and be one of my best chapters ever. However until then I've decided to post up shorter chapters of about 1k-2k each every day or every other day until I work my way up to finishing the big chapter. These story segments will fill in some of the gaps in character relations and will introduce some newcomers to the story. I hope you enjoy! As always, please review, favorite if you haven't already and PM me with your new characters, comments or ideas. Anyway, on we go.

2 years and 7 Months before Z-day 2AM Deserted City Streets

The streets of Philadelphia are cold, unforgiving streets. As you walk along the streets in the dead of night, a cold chilly night wind brushes around your neck and makes you feel the need to be alert. Some may not understand the true feel of the city because they only go to the sports stadiums or commercial areas. Make no mistake, this city's true character is maintained in the middle to low class residential areas. These are the kind of places that no sane man would venture out into alone at night. The atmosphere is forebodingly dark and the lack of the city noise is unnerving, making you feel like a rat caught in a concrete maze. One such girl scrambled away as fast as she could down the otherwise quiet road. The girl's name is Nina Flowers.

Nina dashed frantically away, with fear in her young eyes. All she had wanted to do was to sneak out of her house to the convenience store to buy some candy since she couldn't sleep. However as fate would have it a neighborhood gang calling themselves the New Age Mob, or N.A.M. for short, were bored with nothing to do right outside the store. Now Nina was running for her life from these young men, who each wore faces of unethical delight. However this wasn't the only horrid thing happening on this block. In one alley, a man starved to death. In another someone was shot and mugged. Crimes were common in these parts and it wasn't particularly uncommon to see a dead body off to the side every now and again. Welcome to the first circle of hell.

Nina was smart enough to know that she wasn't strong enough to face them head on since she is only 13 and had a least six older teens chasing her, still with their looks of ill intent. She also knew that heading straight back to her house would also not be a very smart idea, since the teens would most likely just break in to her and her family. Nina at the very least didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of her lies. Knowing this, Nina ducked into an alley and continued running.

She lost a few of the thugs as she frantically turned left and right, making herself unpredictable. However, after a few turns her look ran out and she hit a dead end. Soon she was cornered and had nowhere to run. "There's nowhere for you to run to now little girl" one of the teens said, licking his lips.

Nina backed slowly into the corner before tripping and almost knocking her head up against the wall. Next to her she noticed a metal pipe on the ground. Picking it up she smacked one of the thugs in the head with it, knocking him to the floor, before being disarmed by the head thug who tossed the pipe away. "That does it you little bitch" the hooded gang leader yelled. "Now quit resisting and let me take what I want".

Nina tried to scurry away but the rest of the gang members grabbed her, pinning her arms and legs as she still tried to fight her way free. The head gang member walked up to Nina, stroking her hair and groping her body. "You're pretty well developed for being so young" he said, frightening Nina as his touch made Nina howl and squirm. "I'm going to enjoy this…"

*Shank*. Nina closes her eyes in fear, but then is both scared and mystified at what she sees. The hooded man had a metal blade of a fencing saber piercing his neck. "The… the Wanderer" the now throat impaled man managed to mutter. "Why… why are you… here…?"

"Well considering you were about to take this poor girls innocence, I'll be taking your lives instead" Phil said with a serious look on his face. "By the way, I think I'm going to enjoy this too!" Phil stabbed through the leader's neck again with the other saber. He then pulled the sabers out in opposite directions, slicing the sick man's head off. The other four thugs panicked, except for one who pulled out dual Glock 20's. The man looked as though he thought he had won as he aimed one Glock at Phil and the other at Nina.

"Don't make me turn this rape into a murder" he said, grinning.

However his heart skipped a beat as Phil smiled. "Oh, I'll stop the rape part…" Phil said as he dashed forward and slice through the thug's arm. "But, I'm perfectly fine with the murder part" Phil finished as he stabbed through the man's chest, right into his heart.

Right on cue, the remaining three thugs tried to run out of the alley. Suddenly, Lane appeared and blocked their path. "Did you really think you could get away" Lane said, grinning confidently and giving Phil a quick wink.

One of the three thugs charged straight for Lane. "We'll have our way with you too, you stupid girl!" he said as he charged Lane.

"I'll let my sword have its way with you then" Lane yelled as she impaled the first thug with a textbook one handed lunge. Kicking the blade out of her victim, she gracefully performed a backflip onto her feet before charging her next thug. As the last two prepared their knives to block the attacks, Lane and Phil exchanged a brief nod. They both ran past their intended targets and caught their partner's opponent completely by surprise. With all their opponents hurt or killed, Phil and Lane sheathed their blades.

Nina still sat in the corner, shaking when she thinks about what almost happened. Phil walked over to her. "Are you ok" he asked, extending his hand to her.

"Get away from me" Nina said, looking to be withdrawn inside herself. "Just because you beat them, doesn't mean you can use me too!"

"He isn't that kind of guy" Lane said, walking to Phil's side. "Trust me, I'm his girlfriend so I would know".

"…Ok" Nina finally agreed. "If you say he's ok then I guess you must be right".

Later

Phil and Lane got to know Nina better that night. She seemed to be alright physically, but wasn't mentally shaken and now has a distrust of boys. Phil and Lane had gone back to Phil's apartment, where Lane now lived with Phil, to bed down for the night. After getting cleaned up and storing their equipment, Phil and Lane climbed into bed together. Though they turned the lights off, Phil couldn't sleep.

"What am I doing wrong Lane" Phil asked quietly. "I can't be there to save everyone, but even when I do save someone from danger like tonight they can still be harmed no matter what I do".

Lane clung onto Phil's back and hugged him. "The only thing you can do is try your best to save people" Lane said, with a bit of a yawn. "I know you don't want anyone to have to suffer like you do without your parents but you can't be everyone's savior".

Phil found some solace in her words, but was still troubled. "Maybe I do have some limits that I will never overcome because I'm only one person" Phil said, deep in thought. "But I feel responsible for things like this that happen. There are some many people, families and friends that have no idea of really goes on in the gangs around them. It's not fair they have to suffer when they weren't ever involved!"

"But you aren't alone Phil" Lane said as Phil's eyes grew momentarily wide. "You have your friends from 781 who are really loyal to you. But even if they all leave you, I will always be there for you no matter what happens" Lane said, now staring eye to eye with Phil.

"Lane… thank you" Phil said as Lane brought Phil in close for a long kiss as they soon fell asleep in each other's arms.

Well I hope you enjoyed the first in this series of flashbacks. More chapters with different characters will be coming soon. Remember to favorite, review and PM. Next chapter will be tomorrow!


	12. Chapter 11: Fated?

Hey, Lazersword88 here with another chapter of my story. I have a feeling this will be a good one.

2 Years and 7 Months before Z-day Phil's Dream (Phil's Apartment) 2AM

Phil tossed and turned in his bed. He was having that same, strange dream again. Phil was on the ground, but no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't seem to get up. Others were also on the ground around him and looked to be in worse shape than he was. Some of the people he recognized and others he did not. He recognized Saya, Rikio, Emiko, Alistar, Sora, Layla and Saya. However, Lane was nowhere to be found. Some of them were hurt while the others tended to the wounded. The group was encircled by a ring of blue, unnatural looking fire. Also in the circle were people who Phil didn't recognize were also scattered about the large circle. A dark skinned couple slowly worked their way back to their feet as a blond haired shorter girl tended to the wounds of a solidly built young man with a blue ponytail. A long brown haired boy was on his knees, trying to protect a fallen a purple haired girl. A smaller young girl, tugged on another guy Phil didn't recognize, trying to get him to wake up. Phil noticed that Alistar's sister Akane and a girl Phil didn't recognize were trying to get Alistar to come to. Two scared looking girls were going around seeing if everyone was alright. Also amongst those cast to the side was a pink haired girl hugging a heavier set black haired man and a busty blond haired woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties who was hugging a scared looking pink hair youth and her dog.

In the center of the blazing circle, a frantic battle of mostly unfamiliar people was taking place. The only one of the group that Phil recognized was Maris, who was swiftly fighting right beside another blue haired girl Phil didn't know. Fighting alongside them was a young man with messy, black spiked hair and a red undershirt. The three looked to be a continuing a fight the whole group had against the other two inhuman figures in the ring.

Just looking at the two brought a slight chill down Phil's spine. The first was shrouded in cloud of darkness that hid his appearance. The only notable features the figure had were a blood red halo, piercing red eyes and a massive scythe that he swung around at an alarming rate, which also seemed to emit more blue flames. The other figure looked slightly more human. She had orange hair and mid-size build look most normal girls, but she had blue veins popping out and distortedly wicked smile on her face as she traded blows or her lance with the spiky haired boy's baseball bat.

A long blue, purple haired ran over to Phil and extended her long arm to him as she held a katana in the other. "Do you really have to be such a show off?" she asked playfully despite how serious the situation looked. "You've already saved my twice in less than a year". The girl looked back over at me. "But really, you have my gratitude" she said as she made a quick bow to Phil.

As the two ran back towards the fray, Phil looked over at the girl who just helped him up. _Who is she and have I ever helped her before_ Phil wondered, still confused as to what he was seeing. He reflexively went to pull his fencing sabers from his holsters, but they weren't on his person. But then the weirdest thing happened. Phil felt swords in his sabers in his hands, having manifest in them when Phil though of them. _What is going on?!_ Phil thought as he looked at his swords, which were omitting a bright golden glow.

The figure shrouded in darkness looked over at Phil intently. "This time I'll put you down for good!" the figure screamed as a wave of blue fire left his scythe as he swung it in Phil's direction.

The pillar of blue flame flew at a blinding speed towards Phil, who braced himself for impact with his swords. But instead of the flames finding their mark, they hit a pale green haired girl who dived in front of him. As her blood started to drip from her wounds as she hit the ground, she looked over to Phil and smiled. "Live on for me ok" she said with a smiling face as she winked her only eye at Phil and acted like nothing was wrong…

Phil awoke with a start and was breathing deeply. "It was that odd dream again" Phil commented quietly to himself. "This time was by far the most detailed it has been".

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Phil realized his cell phone was ringing. Walking out of the bedroom into the main section of his small apartment, Phil grabbed a pineapple soda from the fridge while making sure to not wake up Lane who was sleeping peacefully. Phil stepped out his balcony and looked over the railing of his apartment complex as he picked up the line.

"Hey there Officer Brown" Phil said slightly groggily. "What can I do for you?"

Officer Brown is Phil and his gang of former 781 member's employer. When Phil found out the extent of Cooper's treachery, he reported the information to Brown. Phil had been friendly with Brown since his Group 781 days and he was one of the few policemen Phil knew wasn't corrupt. Rising through the ranks to become one of the highest ranked active officers, Brown requires the help of Phil numerous times to help sort out criminal activity that the police are incapable of in delicate situations. Phil is primarily motivated by working to make the city a safer place, but the money definitely helps pad his college fund and make ends meet.

"Phil, we have an important job for you" Brown said in a serious tone.

"What are the details?" Phil asked, now fully awake and aware.

"Are you on a secure line and is there anyone else around?" Brown asked. "Also, just for protocol, I need you to give me your ID password".

"Alright, the code is condor delta alpha sigm 9" Phil said, sipping on his soda. "And the only person around is Lane and she's asleep."

"Good to hear Phil, good to hear" Brown said, more relaxed now. "You know Phil, she's a really nice girl to you. I think she's a keeper".

Phil looks in at Lane, who is still asleep with the most peaceful look on her soft face. "Yeah, she has been really good to me" Phil said with a soft smile. "But that's not why we're talking right now. Didn't you say you had something for me?"

"Yes, yes that's right" Brown said, reestablishing his serious tone. "You've heard of the Astral gang, right?"

"Yeah, who hasn't heard about them?" Phil said. "They are a West side Philly gang that brands new inductees with astral symbol tattoos. I thought we stayed out of their business because they didn't sell anything illegal, were peaceful to the surrounding community and helped support us by informing us on the whereabouts of other gangs?"

"It seems that a group of individuals in the gang have gone rouge and have started to delve into human trafficking" Brown said, with an undertone of anger in his voice.

A thought hit Phil. "Could Cooper's be involved here?" Phil asked.

"Those were my thoughts exactly" Brown said. "He could be using this group as a means to obtain test subjects again".

"Damn, Cooper sure is persistent isn't he" Phil added. "He's tried multiple times to assassinate me and my friends. Also he continually funds these kidnappings while staying underground. If I may ask, where are we getting this intelligence from?"

"We are receiving this information directly from the astral gang" Brown said. "Apparently they don't want these rouges to tarnish the gang's community friendly reputation. Heck, they are even offering us support, which I'll tell you about later when you're briefed".

"One more thing" Phil said. "Am I getting any support for this mission?"

"Yes you are" Brown replied. "Saya is preoccupied on a contract to upgrade our police vehicles and Rikio said he was off on a date with Emiko girl he's always with. Maris is on a recon mission to collect information on Cooper's whereabouts. That leaves Saya and Sophia at your disposal, should you request I contact them".

"I could use all the help I can get" Phil said with a chuckle, finishing his beverage. "Send a car around for the three of us".

"Will do" Brown said excitedly. "And Phil?"

"Yeah?" Phil asked back confusedly.

"Thank you for helping the force out" Brown said. "Things would be a lot harder if I didn't have you and your experienced friends on board".

"It's no trouble" Phil said with a grin. "See you in a few".

Phil hung up the phone and threw his soda can in the garbage softly. He then wrote what was going on onto a sticky note and placed it on the bed side table so that Lane could see it when she woke up. Phil was taken by surprise when Lane's handed softly grabbed his wrist. "Please stay here… you're so warm" Lane said, still asleep.

"I'll back in a little bit, I promise" Phil said softly.

"Ok..." Lane muttered while blushing a bit, which caused Phil to also blush.

Phil threw on his black fencing jacket, jeans and belt where his trusty fencing sabers were holstered. Lane had been teaching Phil fencing frequently and Phil had improved at an alarming rate, already being the best guy in his school as a freshman. Phil put his gloves and shoes on then, after a few minutes of waiting, he headed out to the car waiting for him outside.

Saya and Sophia were already in the car, as they had been picked up first. Saya, who sat in the front passenger seat of the unmarked sedan, greeted his longtime friend cheerfully and gave him a fist bump once inside the car. Sophia however sat in the passenger seat with annoyed look on her face and her arms crossed as the driver pulled away from the curb and headed towards the station.

"Nice to see you guys could make it" Phil said, looking at the two teens. "How did your guy's night go?"

"Mine went well" Saya said happily. "I went to the school dance".

"How did that go?" Phil asked. "I almost bought tickets for Lane and I to go".

"It was below average honestly" Saya said with a disappointed look. "A lot of people didn't go because tickets for that new romantic comedy were cheaper than the dance tickets. There were still some cute girls though".

"That's cool" Phil replied. "I'm really happy Lane isn't into movies like that because I couldn't stay awake in one. How about you Sophia?"

The short girl with the blue eyes and white looked over at Phil with a scowl while frantically tapping her foot. "Don't talk to me, I'm not in the mood" Sophia snarled.

"Come on, lighten up" Phil said. "If you're like this during the mission, you're going to get us…"

"I said, don't talk to me!" Sophia screamed, looking even more angry.

"Driver, please pull over" Phil ordered. "I think we need to talk".

The car pulled to a stop in a quiet neighborhood when Phil and Sophia got out of the car and walked into a nearby alley. "What has gotten into you" Phil asked as Sophia crossed her arms and looks away.

"I don't feel like putting up with this bullshit anymore" Sophia said. "Why can't I work alone?"

"If you want to work alone so bad then just ask Brown" Phil said back calmly. "Maris already works alone, so why can't you operate like that?"

"I already have asked him multiple times, but he always says that I'm 'not tested enough to work on my own'" Sophia said with a spiteful look. "That's a load of crap! I'm as experienced as any of the former 781 members. You're the one telling him not to let me, aren't you" Sophia said, staring right into Phil's brown eyes.

Phil put a hand on Sophia's shoulder. "Why would I prevent you from doing what you like?" Phil said. If that's truly what you wanted, I would let you do it".

Sophia smacked the arm away from her. "Get your hands off me" she yelled. "I don't like you acting like you're my father or something. I already hate my parents so I don't need you acting like that too. And don't think I don't know what you're up to".

"What am I up to?" Phil asked, slightly taken aback.

"Oh I've seen this game before" Sophia said with a crazed look on her face. "You try to act all nice and caring to girls so they all like you. I'm sick of how half the girls you meet have a crush on you and are easily manipulated by you. Especially that one girl long brown haired girl".

"What are you talking about?" Phil said, now also angry. "I'm not some pimp who walks around collecting girls to use them. If girls like me, that's their decision. Besides, I'm 100% faithful to Lane since we have been going out for months now. And don't you dare talk about her like she is an easy woman, because she's anything but!"

"If you're planning on trying to make me follow you around forever, I'll never do it!" Sophia screamed.

"Grow up" Phil yelled. "I'm just trying to be your friend, nothing more. You, me, Saya and every one of our friends have saved each other countless times. We're all there for you…"

"Shut up" Sophia barked. "You aren't my friends and I don't need friends like you. I'm more skilled as a marksmen then anyone in your posse and that's the only reason you want me following you around. But I've had it with you and your little group. I'm in this for me and no one else."

"Listen to yourself" Phil said, trying to calm himself down. "What would your brother say if he saw you now?"

"Don't you dare bring up my brother you asshole" Sophia snapped. "Screw you, screw your team and screw this mission. I'm done".

With that Sophia stormed out of the alley and away from Phil as he was left to ponder her actions. Phil thought about chasing after her, but a hand gripped his shoulder from behind.

"It's not worth it man" Saya said with his usual overconfident smile. "She isn't going to listen no matter what you say. Come on, let's get back in the car and get this mission rolling!"

Fifteen minutes later Phil and Saya were sitting in Brown's office. Brown's office was quite a bit more modest then Cooper's office used to be. "Good to see the two of you, but what happened to Sophia?" Brown asked, confused as to why the white haired sniper wasn't present.

"We had a falling out" Phil admitted. "I doubt she will be working with us tonight or anytime soon."

"Well that is unfortunate and you'll have to explain it to me later" Brown said. "But right now, we have more pressing things to discuss".

Elsewhere

Two silent rouges bounded over the rooftops in the dead of the night. One of the two stopped for a moment, pulling off his hood and gasping out of breath. "Hey Maris, every time we do this I feel like I might get vertigo" Casper said, hands on his knees and still panting a bit.

Maris turned around and giggled a bit as her black cloak rustled in the night breezes. "Come on, I though you said you wouldn't slow me down this time" Maris said with a slight smile, her bright red eye shining in the dark. "How do you like you're cloak?"

"It's not really my style, but it will do for operations like these" Casper said, shrugging his shoulders. "How much farther do we have to go?"

"Not far" Maris said her soft voice serious. "Just to remind you, our mission is simple. Kill or down the thugs, collect intelligence on Cooper and raise any alarms. Got it?"

"You didn't have to tell me again, ok" Casper said, slightly annoyed. "Stop treating me like an amateur because I've been at this for long then you".

"I will once you can keep up with me" Maris said, smiling as she began to dart across the rooftops again.

"Oh you're on!" Casper said as he chased after her.

The two reached the gang hideout that was to be infiltrated and quietly dove down to street level in an alley. There were two guards outside the door. After observing them for a little while, Maris detected that they were carrying Uzis concealed in their coats. As one walked down the street towards the alley Maris and Casper were in, Maris readied her ruby hilted knife and a paralysis dart. As Maris began to move, Casper unsheathed his metal baseball bat. At the same time, Maris threw a dart at the far away guard and stabbed the close guard, pulling him into the alley with them. Maris then kicked the goon of her blade, only to have Casper strike him hard in the head with the bat. As Casper did this, Maris pulled out a baseball and chucked it at the hideout window, busting it. Maris nodded to Casper who dropped his bat near the dumpster, drew his silenced P99 and went around the back of the hideout before more goons came to see the cause of the commotion. Meanwhile, Maris climbed up a fire escape and prepared to draw more darts.

Just as planned, the shattered window and missing guards drew the attention of the thugs to the alley. A group of three thugs, annoyed by the window break, saw the bat and thought the two guards were chasing the 'kids' away. While they were distracted, Maris drew three poisoned darts. In one clean throwing motion she released all the darts, each finding their mark and downing their target. "Well, I guess its three strikes you're dead in this ball game" Maris said to herself, laughing slightly.

Meanwhile Casper snuck into behind the hideout. A drunk looking thug stumbled out of the hideout with a trash bag in hand and didn't even know what hit him when a silenced pistol round hit him right between the eyes. Catching the closing door, Casper crept into the now almost empty hideout in search of the data.

Walking into a room full of thugs, Casper shot each of the ones with their guns out twice. As the other panicked for their weapons, worked his way around and finished all the lowlifes. Casper picked up a beer can and poured onto one of the struggling grunts. "And that sir is why you never mix business and pleasure".

Casper made his way into an office room and plugged his flash drive hacking device into each computer, downloading their contents. Meanwhile, Maris finally finished dragging the bodies into the dumpster. She thought they were pretty heavy for a smaller girl such as herself and it was easier when Casper was around. Casper ran out to her, waving the flash drive in his hand as he sprinted to her. "I've got what we need, so let's go" Casper said excitedly.

At that moment, Maris' heart skipped a beat. Unknown to Casper, one of the guys he had wounded had crawled back into the alley and was planning on using his final breathes to get vengeance on Casper. "Casper, no!" Maris screamed as she tackled him to the pavement.

Maris felt pain in her shoulder as the bullet meant for Casper graved her as she fell. Casper, coming to his senses, whipped out his pistol and shot back, hitting the man three times in the chest before he finally dropped his gun and fell to the ground.

Casper then dropped his gun and looked at Maris, who was on top of him wincing in pain. "Maris, I'm sorry" Casper said looking down.

"That was a rookie mistake there Cassy boy" Maris said looking at the man she was on top of. "If I never need to do that again, you'll have to worry about me killing you".

"Here, take this" Casper said, removing his cloak and tied it around Maris' wound. "That should help stop the bleeding. Is there anything I can do to…?"

Maris pulled into a hard hug as she shed a few tears. "I'm just glad you're ok".

Casper was hesitant at first but then decided to return the hug as the two lay on the pavement of the alley together.

On a roof across the street and a few blocks away, Sophia lay prone on a rooftop, watching the scene in the alley through the scope of a rifle she picked up at her house. "Things just keep getting better and better!" Sophia said, licking her lips. "I could kill both of you right now and end this little love story before it starts, or I could wait a few moments longer to see where this goes. Either way, I feel like taking my anger out on someone tonight. And you are just the unlucky people…"

Out of nowhere Sophia felt someone hugging on top of her and moving a tongue across her ear, sending shivers down her spine. "Get off of me" Sophia yelled as she rolled over and kicked a pale green haired girl with an eye patch off of her.

"Wait… you're Yasuga Tsuji" Sophia said, recognizing the former 781 member. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because Cooper wants you back, Sophia Nguyen" the pale green eyed girl said with a psychotic look in her eye. "The boss has great plans for you. Now we can do this battle three ways. The first is you surrender and come with me to Cooper, after I seduce you of course. The second is I hit you with this dart from my blowgun and knock you out, so I can bring you in and have my way with you. The third is my personal favorite. I can submit you, then I'll have my way and then I'll give you an eye like mine with these scissors" Sophia said, pulling off her eye patch and twirling a pair of scissors around.

"How about a fourth option, you pervert psychopath" Sophia said as she fell down off the roof, clinging to the wall and running off into the night.

"Oh well, I don't have time to pursue her tonight" Yasuga said. "My main goal is much more important".

Elsewhere

Phil and Saya followed an Astral gang member who was helping to get the two to the hideout of the rebels. "What's your name their bud" Saya asked, trying to strike up small talk with the otherwise quite boy.

The dark skinned boy turned and looked at the two following him. Stopping for a moment, he extended his hand. "I'm Jelani Adeen, nice to meet you" he said, shaking Phil and Saya's hand.

After everyone introduced themselves, the three continued to run on foot towards the hideout. Just to make sure they weren't spotted, the trio was dropped off a few blocks away from the hideout. While Phil and Saya were fully armed Jelani had little on his person, which made it fairly challenging for the duo to keep up with him. "When we get to the hideout, you find a good place to hide Jelani" Phil said to the boy. "Do you have anything to defend yourself?"

"I have this" Jelani said, pulling out a homemade shank.

"Yea that should do the trick" Saya said.

As the trio approached the base doors, Jelani found a good hiding spot and waited there. Phil loaded up his MP5KSD suppressed submachine gun and made sure he knew where the holsters for his sabers were. Saya loaded a clip into his AK47 and twisted the silencer on as the two approached the door. "Flash and clear on 5" Phil said holding a flash bang grenade.

"Roger that" Saya said, flipping the safety off his rifle gun and getting ready to follow Phil in.

"Leave no survivors" Phil said seriously. "Breaching in 5…4…3…2…1…"

Phil and Saya busted the doors open and Phil tossed a flash grenade into the first room, blinding all inside. Phil then drew his submachine gun in his left hand and one of his sabers in his right as Saya filed into the room right behind him. Phil stabbed through the head of a thug that tried to bum rush the duo while peppering all the thugs sitting or standing in the left of the bar like room. Saya head shot the bartender with his first shot and proceeded to ravage all the thugs and criminals at the bar. More thugs tried to go for the weapons closet in the next room, but Saya banked a grenade off a wall so that it rolled into the closet as they closed the door to arm up. A huge explosion could be heard as the gangsters cooked and the thugs munitions blew up. While they were shell shocked, Phil slung his MP5KSD back and drew his second sabre. Phil cut down thug after thug with his blades as Saya filed in behind him and killed the thugs ahead. After killing about 40 thugs, the room was finally quiet.

All that remained was to go into the office and collect the data from the computer there. "Well this job was easy" Saya said overconfidently as he trudged towards the office.

Then Phil noticed something shiny in the bottom of the doorway. "Saya, wait!" Phil tried to yell at his friend, to no avail.

Suddenly Saya had tripped and fallen forward over a trip wire. As he fell on his back a pale green haired girl jumped and mounted herself on top of him, thrusting down with her pair of scissors. However, Saya caught the girl's hands and the two fought for control of the scissors. "I'm going to make you feel so good before I stab your eye out" the one eyed girl hissed in delight as she grinded up against his body as she tried to impale him.

"Get off of him!" Phil yelled as he grabbed the girl, picked her up and threw her against the wall.

_Was that… Phil?_ the girl thought as she crashed into the wall, sending the scissors sliding away from her. She got back up slowly as Saya dusted himself off and Phil drew his sabers again, ready for anything.

However, nothing could prepare him for what happened next. "Omg, it is you Phil!" the girl said as she bolted up to Phil, hugging him tightly and rubbing her nice sized breasts on him.

"Ummm, what?" Phil muttered. Saya just facepalmed.

"Don't you remember me Phil? It's me, Yasuga" Yasuga said smiling.

Phil and Saya's eyes grew wide. "Wait, I remember you now" Phil said, returning the hug now. "You were a part of 781 right? It's good to see you're alright. Why are you here?"

"Well, Cooper did tell me to retrieve the data before anyone else could" Yasuga said. "But I don't feel like doing that anymore, since you're here!"

"Wait, hold on" Saya said shaking his head. "Why are you changing sides so easily?"

"Because Phil is here!" Yasuga said hugging Phil even harder. "Cooper lied to me and said Phil died. That's the only reason I still worked for him. As long as Phil is here, I'm staying with him."

"Ugghh, while I do appreciate the help and all, I kinda have a girlfriend now…" Phil said hesitantly but with a small grin.

Yasuga looked up at Phil with her pale green eye. "I guess that's ok… as long as I'm there in case something happens I'll be happy".

"Please don't try to hurt her or anything" Phil said, struggling to manage the awkward situation. "If you do I won't like you ever".

"Ok… I'm just happy I can team up with you and your friends" the excited girl yelled, finally releasing her vice hug.

"Let's just get the bloody data and sort this out later" Saya said, confused and annoyed.

_How am I going to explain this to Lane? _Phil thought as they walked out of the hideout with the data and a new companion.

Where did Sophia run off to? Does Yosuga have a split personality? Will she hurt Phil and Lane's relationship somehow? Are Casper and Maris a couple now? Are the dreams Phil's having a premonition or just dreams? Did the information they gain on Cooper help the crew two months later? Will Sophia ever rejoin Phil's team? Where was Yasuga during the events two months later? Who is Jelani and is he a factor in the upcoming struggles? What does this all have to do with Cooper's plans and where is he hiding? What were other characters such as Alice, Layla and Noah doing during this time? Find out this and much more in the next exciting chapters!

Whew… This was another long one. I know you guys have been waiting patiently for this one so I tried to make it awesome and have a balance of action, plot, mystery and romance. I won't continue working on the story until after my spring break trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyons for a week, but I will still answer PMs when I have service. Please review, PM or favorite/follow and until next time, Lazersword88 signing out.

P.S. – If we can this story to 100 reviews, I'll publish two new chapters the week I get back.


	13. Chapter 12: The Stand-off

Hello again everyone, Lazersword88 here. Hope you're ready for another exciting chapter of my story. I wanted to thank all of my readers a ton for getting my story up to 100 reviews. It means a lot to me to be able to brighten so many people's day with the effort I put into the story. I apologize for long it has been since I've gotten a new chapter out. I've been plenty busy lately but I plan to continue the story and publish at a fast pace hopefully. Because of the interest in the story, I've decided the story will run a total of 35 to 50 chapters and have multiple story arcs. I'm still excepting OC's for those interested. Make sure to PM me, review and favorite if you haven't already.

P.S.- Remember that the chapters in the story so far are not in chronological order, which I felt was best for dramatic story telling, so pay attention the time each event is taking place.

2 Years and 7 Months before Z-day (2 days after last chapter) Phil's apartment 6AM Monday

Phil awoke with a start, having a bad dream again. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he remembers what it had been about. He saw the dream with the same shadowy figure attacking his friends and others. What troubled him was that he had just re-met Yasuga, who appeared in his dream even when he had forgotten about her. This made Phil believe that some, if not all aspects of the dream could be true. He also had seen visions of many people's deaths. Some were of people from the past whom Phil had tried to save but wasn't able too. Others were some of his friends currently, which disturbed him. And finally there were a few individuals whom he had never seen before. He was particularly scared at what he had seen, but was comforted by Lane, who was still asleep with her arms wrapped around him from behind. Phil carefully moved her arms as to not wake her up and groggily tried to get out of bed, almost running into another girl sleeping on the edge of the bed. It was Sora, wrapped in her own set of blankets who stirred slightly because of Phil's movement. Phil looked for a moment at the girl and pitied what happened to her yesterday.

The day before

It was about 5PM on Sunday as Phil began dinner. It had been a miserably cold and wet fall Sunday, so there was not a lot to do outside. Also a lot of the people the two knew were busy with work due on Monday. Lane had been staying over at Phil's house this weekend. Lane lived during the week with Phil and alternated weekend stays between Phil's house and her parent's mansion. Though Phil's place was a lot smaller, she had many reasons to want to stay there. She wanted to spend more time around her boyfriend and keep away from her parents, who had the tendency to showcase her endlessly to her family's guests despite her being annoyed by it. Lane has always been a free spirit, which didn't bode well with the formal high class lifestyle where everything must be on schedule and planned out. After some fighting and resistance at first, the Easton family respected Lane's wishes to spend time with Phil and even started treating Phil as almost one of their own. Interacting with these people of wealth and power had a steep learning curve for Phil, but he is learning the proper mannerisms at unprecedented pace given his poor orphan upbringing. Phil was helped by his kindness and effort, which many of the Easton's could relate to.

Lane walked over to Phil who was hard at work tending to a boiling pot of pasta, frying some chicken, chopping up some greens and stirring together a homemade sauce. "This smells delicious" the brown hair girl said looking over Phil's shoulder as he masterfully tended to everything, not letting his hands rest for a minute.

"I'm making some chicken parmesan" Phil said, happy Lane appreciated the effort he was putting in. "I'm trying it in a blush sauce this time and I'm also chopping up some salad".

"Man, you sure do like your Italian" Lane said. "What is this supposed to be all romantic?"

"Only if you want it to be" Phil said as Lane started to set the table. "Don't worry, I've made enough for leftovers…"

Suddenly there was a light knock on the door. "I'll get it" Phil said as he left the kitchen corner of his two room apartment. "Could you stir the pasta for me Lane" he said as Lane nodded and walked to the kitchen.

When Phil opened the door, he was surprised a great deal. Before him stood his childhood friend Sora, who was in miserable condition. Her hair, while usually not the neatest, was ruffled around a good deal and slightly dirtied. Her clothes were soaked by the rain of the grey skied day and a bit tattered. Dropping her tattered suitcase, Sora ran up and hugged her longtime friend. "I'm so glad you're here…" Sora said as she started crying and clutching Phil harder. "I'm sorry to disturb you guys."

"No it's fine, really" Phil said leading Sora inside. "Let's get you some better clothes".

Lane rushed over to Sora and took her hand. "Phil the cooking is all yours" she said as Phil nodded and got back to work. "Now, let's fix you up a bit" as she led Sora into the bedroom and pulled some pajamas from a dresser. "These may be a little lanky on you but they will do" Lane said.

Sora, still a bit in tears, ran and hugged her friend. "Thank you so much… both of you" she said as she let go of Lane and she walked out the room to let the girl have her privacy.

As Sora came out in her new clothes, her stomach rumbled. "Would you like to have dinner with us" Phil asked, turning his head around briefly away from his cooking. "You can tell us what happened then".

"Please don't kill yourselves over my problems" Sora said, thinking she was relying and intruding on her friends. "How will I ever repay you for this?"

Sora then felt Lane put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it" Lane said. "We're your friends and we'll be here for you."

Phil, having finished the cooking, turns around to the girls. "Dinner is served" he said as he dished up three plates while donning his trademark grin.

When Phil set the plates down in front of the girls they both appeared happy. As they ate noticed Sora was acting a bit strange. It was almost as though she wanted to eat everything as fast as possible, but wasn't trying to be a pig. This made Phil think that Sora hadn't eaten in a while, which concerned him a bit. "Don't worry, I've made plenty of food" he said, nodding over to Lane who also was looking concernedly at Sora.

After they had finished eating, with both the girls enjoying the food, the three sat down on the main room's couch. "Please tell us what happened as long as you're alright with telling us" Phil said calmly.

"Well as you know I was adopted by the Tsukishiro family" Sora began. "Things were all going well, until my adoptive family got robbed".

"How much did the thieves take?" Lane asked.

"Almost everything" Sora said sadly. "And the police couldn't even find any clues of there being a thief or a break in at all. We had to sell the house just to make ends meet and we moved into an apartment near here".

"So what else happened that made you wind up here" Phil said, trying hard to both gain helpful information and not upset Sora more.

"Well… my 'parents' started paying more and more attention to my brothers and sisters, or their biological children, instead of caring about me" Sora said with tears creeping into her eyes. "Last night my father, who had developed a drinking problem, came into my room drunk and pointed a gun at me. He told me that I was a liability to the family and that could either never come back or he would kill me. Heartbroken, I packed as many of my things into my suitcase as I could fit and ran away".

Noticing Sora was upset, both Phil and Lane wrapped an arm around Sora as she sat on the couch in between the two. "What happened to the money you had saved?" Phil asked Sora. "I thought you would have enough for food and a room for a little while".

"I got attacked by one of the local gangs this afternoon" Sora said. "There were too many of them for me to take on and I got knocked out. When I woke up all my valuables were gone and they were trying to carry me to a hideout. But I kicked out of their hold and ran for it. After I lost them, I came here".

Phil gave his friend a reassuring pat on the back. "I'm sorry to hear what about what went down with family" Phil said with an expression that showed he meant it. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you need to in order to get back on your feet".

Sora hugged her friends again and thanked them. "Is there a place I can sleep, if you don't mind?" she asked.

"Well… we have a king sized bed, so there is plenty of room there" Lane suggested. "The couch is already slept in nightly by another friend of ours".

End Flashback

Phil stopped for a moment and softly smiled as his friend slept in peace, looking much better than the day before. Phil pulled on a set of synthetic shorts, running shoes a t-shirt quietly without waking either of the two girls. Phil contemplated Sora's story from the day before, proud of Sora's bravery and glad he and Lane were there to help. Phil occasionally took in and helped many teen strangers down on their luck, so it was a relief to have a friend stay for a change.

The dark brown haired young man stepped into the main room of his small apartment. Turning to a mirror on the wall, Phil stared into his eyes. _People like Sora's parents give up when the going gets tough_ Phil thought. _I'll never give up on my friends for anything. I'll never be a coward like my father_.

Phil moved silently through the room making sure not to awaken Maris, who slept on the same couch as she always had. Phil was always worried about the girl. Though it would be hard because of her lack of legal documentation, Phil had been working with police Chief Brown to try to register Maris as a citizen, allowing her to go to Phil's school. However, Maris had been fighting the idea tooth and nail despite her usual quietness. She said that fighting was all she was good for and that she was even considering becoming a mercenary sometime in the future. However Phil didn't want to see Maris go throw her life away or be killed because she was like a daughter to him. Because of the fights they've been having, Maris spent less time around Phil and his friends, though she didn't spend much time around them anyways due to being antisocial.

Phil snuck past Maris, who was still sleeping off a police job from the night before, and headed to the door. There he stretched out for a minute, laced his shoes up and started his morning run. Not too far from his doorstep he heard a familiar voice beckon behind him. "It looks like you're going for a run" the boy said. "Mind if I tag along? I have a few things that I can only talk to you about".

"Sure, if you think you can keep up Taki then you can come" Phil said back as he started to run at a fair clip as Taki followed.

Taki Takeda was quite the unusual person, especially in these parts. About half a year ago Phil first met the 14 year old boy with a neat head of black hair and square glasses that accurately portrayed his no nonsense personality. A half a year ago Taki woke up in a back alley with no memories of why he was there or anything about his past life. However when he was soon confronted by a violent street gang, Taki realized he had the instincts of a killer, easily killing most of that gang with his throwing knives. This event is how Phil met Taki. Distraught from the violence he had caused and the boundless possibilities of his past, Taki was taken in by Phil and Lane. Together they pieced together what little information they could find. The three were able to determine Taki's name and some general information about his past, but a lot of the big details about Taki's past remain a mystery to this day. All Phil truly knows about him is he is a knife wielder with a weird penchant for wearing fancy suits despite his income. While Phil was proud of Taki for finding work with the police and moving into an apartment of his own in the same complex as Phil's, he was still a bit disappointed that Taki stuck to his lone wolf mentality and not even trying to make any friends.

The two boys ran at a considerable pace down the city streets, the sun not yet fully in the sky. "So I wanted to ask you about East Pen High" Taki began. "Do you like going there after a little over a year?"

"Yeah, it's an overall great school" Phil replied. The campus is open and with mostly new state of the art buildings. The teachers are a lot of fun and put a lot of effort into making lessons memorable. The bands and clubs are entirely student run, so any kind of reasonable interest has a club representing it. Also there are a hug number of sports teams, all funded by the school. There are a few bad things about it though. The first is the school is surrounded by a large, barb wire fence so traffic in and out of the front gate can be a bit harsh at times. Also since the school is a public school, they are forced to bus in some students that are trouble. Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

"I was thinking of transferring from the school I'm at right now to the one you're at" Taki said, still keeping pace with Phil as they neared the apartments again. "The one I'm at is a real dump… wait, look up there!"

Standing on the roof of a nearby building was a figure shrouded in the shadows. The only reason the person was spotted was because Taki's involuntary instincts make him incredible perceptive. "This is trouble" Phil said. "We need to get back to our apartments double time and grab weapons to defend ourselves".

Taki pulled off his jacket to reveal a plethora of hidden throwing knives, much to Phil's shock. "I never leave the house without them" Taki said, a slightly sadistic smile crossing his face. "This person might know something about my past, and if they do I'll beat the answers out of them".

"Well don't do anything stupid until I get back" Phil said, now dashing towards his apartment. Phil frantically ran towards his home as Taki sprinted up a nearby catwalk to the roof. Taki made his way to the top of the roof, but he couldn't spot the person he had seen.

Suddenly Taki heard an emotionless voice behind him, causing him to shiver. "…Oh good, looks like you didn't disappoint after all…" a soft female voice said.

Taki, turned around quickly and the girl was gone again. "Who are you and what do you want from us!" he screamed.

In a matter of seconds Taki felt cold fingernails slowly scratching down his back, frightening him more. "Who I am is not important" the girl said very soft and emotionlessly. "As for why I'm here, I'm just testing you".

"Well test this!" Taki said as he caught the girl by surprise with a no look elbow to the head, knocking her to the ground and knocking off the hood of the sweatshirt.

The girl was small, only standing at about 5 feet. She had bright white albino hair with blue streaks on the ends and red eyes to match. He skin was deathly pale and she wore a constant look of almost eerie disinterest.

Taki drew his first few knives to throw and slightly tugged at his rectangular glasses. "I'll only ask you this once, who are you and what do you know about my past!" Taki said, his anger steadily building.

"…Let's fight then…" the girl said quietly again.

_Why is she trying to fight me?_ Taki thought. _She doesn't even have any weapons!_

"Fine, but when you lay there bleeding out, don't blame me" Taki said, his rage boiling over as he quickly through his first two knives.

Taki then stood in shock as the girl took no actions to evade. _She's going to take this hit head on? That's insane!"_

However at the last second the girl pulled a giant black book with metal covering out from behind her back and quickly moved it to deflect both knives. As the knives bounced meekly onto the ground, the girl smiled faintly. "…I thought your attacks would be less pitiful…" the girl said yawning and stretching her arms. "If you want I'll let you attack me some more just to let you know how futile your efforts are before I show you what you are truly up against".

"Enough!" Taki howled. "I'll make you regret every one of those words!" he finished as he drew four knives in each hand and started rapidly throwing them.

This time the mystery girl kept moving, blocking the knives that got too close with her book. Then she pulled her makeshift bookmark out of her book, a long rusty kitchen knife. As she completed her charge she leaped in to the air and aimed her knife for Taki's head. "I don't think so!" Taki yelled as he pulled one of his own knives out to deliver a devastating close quarter blow to the charging girl. The two reached each other, but each blade was met with a clash of steel.

Phil stood in-between them wielding his two fencing sabers in his hands, having parried both of their stabs. "What gives Phil" Taki blurted out. "I had this stalker beat!"

"It's not ok to just go attacking anyone suspicious" Phil said. "We don't even know who she is or why she is here. She may not be our enemy".

"But I can tell she must know something about my past" Taki exclaimed. "I just have this gut feeling that she may have the answers."

"The chances of her having useful information about your past is slim to none" Phil countered. "The past is gone Taki, why don't you just move on?"

Taki turned to Phil and drew his knives. "Well if you want to get in my way, I'll have to kill you!" he said.

Phil was surprised by the fact that Taki would even sacrifice the closest things he had to friends in order to gain what he desires. But Phil knew that in order to get the bottom of the situation and teach his friend the errors of his ways, Phil would have to battle against Taki. The three combatants stood still and stared each other down, each looking for an opening to strike or to predict the others move. However, a chill went down Phil's spine as he heard all too familiar footsteps approach the three from behind.

"Well isn't this convenient, Phil" a man said as he slowly walked towards the three in the center of the rooftop. "I was going to attack your home to kill you and all your friends for your betrayal, but you saved me trouble of baiting you out into the open".

"You have some nerve showing you're ugly mug around here Cooper" Phil said, regaining his cool and his grin. "I thought Mr. corrupt police squad would have used a bunch of thugs or another group 781 agent to attack me. Even though you're a sick man, you never cease to amaze me".

"Cooper!" Taki screamed. "This doesn't involve you! Get lost you freak or I'll cave in your face along with these too."

Cooper's eyebrows rose slightly. "So I guess it's every man, or lady, for themselves then" Cooper said, running a finger through his mustache. "That's unfortunate for you since Phil isn't there to bail you out all the time, you weakling".

"Who are you calling weak you old cripple!" Taki exploded. "I could beat you with my eyes closed and arms tied".

"I think you're forgetting about my mechanical arm, you failure" Cooper said sternly. "I've had my scientists work to add even more weapons to my arm. You don't stand a chance. You know, it's been a while since I've done some actual field work so I'm happy to be back out here. Killing you traitors and pushovers is just the icing on the cake".

"…this gets better by the moment…" the girl said, eying Cooper and Phil.

"Let's see which of us four it the strongest then!" Cooper said as he charged straight Taki. As he dashed he hit a button on his mechanical arm which caused his hand to collapse inward and a gun barrel appears in its place. Cooper kept mobile, spraying bullets at Taki who had to keep shifting cover to survive the onslaught.

Meanwhile Phil and the mystery women stood face to face. "Here I come!" Phil said as he charged the girl. The girl blocked the first stab with her book as she staggered backwards and prepared to counter attack. However she didn't see Phil's right saber hooking around her book shield until the tip had stabbed into her arm. Jumping backwards, the girl pulled out the saber. However, the damage was already done as she was struggling to lift the book she was using to guard herself. Left with not many other options, the girl charged head on directly towards Phil with her knife and drops her tome in the process. The girl ran behind one of the walls, disappearing for a few seconds as Phil readied his guard with both sabers and took a defensive stance. Suddenly from a wall behind and to the left of him, the girl sprung out and prepared to deliver a fatal blow. However as soon as Phil head the noise of her jump from behind cover, he turned in the correct direction and readied himself to parry the stab. As Phil parried the girl's stab with one saber he smacked the girl's wrist with the flat of his blade, causing her knife to slide off. Finally, he unleashed a crushing knee to the chest that had learned from kickboxing which caused the girl to stumble backwards.

As the girl stumbled, she neared the edge of the building and began to fall down. However, Phil reached out and grabbed her to save her from her fall. "Surrender now and I'll let you walk away" Phil said, pointing one of the sabers at the girl's head.

"Ok, you win…" she said softly, putting her hands up. As Phil walked towards the other two still fighting, the girl noticed her tome was sitting on the ground near her. All she had to do was pick up the book and smack Phil hard in the head with it. Then she would be able to have more fun. However, she remembered how Phil reached and saved her from falling off the building. Had it not been for him, she might have been seriously hurt or dead. So she decides to leave the book in place and watch the rest of the fighting.

Cooper continued to spray bullets at Taki until he heard the unwanted clicking of an empty magazine. Since the bullets were inserted directly into the arm, it would take too long to reload. Taki ceased this chance by jumping out from behind cover and throwing more of his knives at the old ex-police commander. However Cooper had more tricks up his sleeve. His arm quickly reset to its normal state and then the metal plates branched out, forming a medium sized shield which he uses to deflect Taki's knives.

Taki felt his bandoliers and realized he was running out of knives. He took the remaining 3 knives from their holsters and thought of a plan. He noticed a lone fire extinguisher on the ground, which he was going to use to get the drop on Cooper. He would throw his first knife towards Cooper, but to his right in order to intentionally bait Cooper to dodging left. Then, with his second throw, Taki would have to hit the fire extinguisher. This will cause it to explode into a powdery white fog. Then finally, Taki would charge in and slice Cooper up with knife number three.

"Well it looks like you're almost out of knives" Cooper said, noticing Taki's bandolier. "I told you from the start child, that you could never win! You're down to your last knives while I still haven't revealed the majority of things my hand can do".

"These knives are all I need to kill a chump like you!" Taki snapped as he threw his first knife. Cooper dodged left, taking the bait much to Taki's satisfaction. Then Taki's second knife found its mark, hitting the fire extinguisher as a giant cloud of white smoke engulfed part of the roof. Quickly, Taki bounded towards Cooper, brandishing his final knife and preparing to deliver a fatal blow. However when Taki lunged to impale Cooper he felt his knife get stopped, surprising him. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Cooper had caught the knife with his metal arm.

"What… how could you have possibly" Taki muttered in disbelief.

"I take it some people forget that back in my day I was easily one of the city's strongest fighters" Cooper said grinning sinisterly. "And it seems I haven't lost it. Now behold my latest addition to my mechanical arm!"

When Cooper squeezed the knife more a powerful electrical shock coursed through Taki and he fell to the ground dropping the knife. "My new hand can cause paralysis should you come into contact with it. And unfortunately for you your knives conduct electricity" Cooper said as he pressed another button on his arm and a knife blade sprung out of the top of his wrist that extended across his hand. "Time to finish you and get on to who I'm really here for" Cooper said as he lunged towards Taki who lay still paralyzed on the ground.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" Phil said as he dashed in front of Cooper. Phil sheathed his swords for the moment and picked up Taki.

"…I…said I didn't need your help" Taki said as he slowly regained his senses.

"Don't kid yourself" Phil said with a slight grin. "If I hadn't stepped in, you would be dead right now".

"Damn you Phil" Cooper snarled. "You just always meddle in everything I'm trying to do. That ends today!"

Cooper tapped a few more buttons on his arm and his knife blade expanded into a thin, longer sword like blade that extended from wrist wolverine style and crackled with electricity. "I'll let no one stand in the way of my plans for this city, let alone a high school age traitor!"

Phil set Taki down next to the mystery girl who watched them blankly. "…I thought you were fighting. Why did you save him?" the girl asked confused.

Phil turned to girl quickly with a serious face. "Even if we have our quarrels, in the end we're still friends and friends look out for each other".

"…well, you're more interesting then I first thought" the girl said with a slight smile.

"Enough stalling!" Cooper screamed. "I'm about to do what I should have done years ago!"

Phil drew his sabers again as his corrupt former mentor charged him, his long blade leaving a trail of sparks behind it as it was dragged across the ground. Cooper swung his blade at Phil who parried it and stabbed Cooper in the chest. The blade was stopped by Cooper's police armor vest, which limited his mobility but was resistant to penetration.

Cooper sprang backwards in shock. "How are you not doubled over in pain?" the mustached man asked. "The electric shock should have travel through your sword and crippled you".

"The grip of my blade is nonconductive and I'm wearing gloves, so you're going to have to do better than that" Phil said, gleaming with confidence.

"Don't get ahead of yourself" Cooper said calmly. "As soon as my blade touches your body you're finished".

This time Phil took the initiative and dashed towards Cooper. As Phil entered striking range, Cooper slashed horizontally. Phil dropped down and slid under Cooper's strike while sheathing one of his swords. As he slid past, he grabbed Cooper's ankle with the hand that was now free. Quickly springing to his feet, Phil lifted Cooper into the air and slammed him into the ground hard. "Time to show you that old things break!" Phil yelled as he picked Cooper off the ground again and slammed his back with a hard knee, sending Cooper tumbling across the roof.

Phil walked over to Cooper to finish him, but as he was about deliver a final blow he felt a painful shock spread through his body. Cooper had managed to use his long blade to reach out and touch the skin around Phil's ankle. However a knife flew through the air and knocked the blade away from Phil's leg, giving him time to get away. Phil looked over at Taki who nodded to Phil before passing out.

Cooper slowly got up. "I may not be able to kill you alone, but I've come prepared" Cooper said as he reveals some kind of remote. "As soon as I hit this button every member of Group 781 will rush here. I may not be able to kill you, but I'm sure all of them can. Now time to end you…"

A pair of sharp scissors flew from out of nowhere and hit the remote out of Cooper's hands and off of the roof. "There's no need for calling in backup Coop, because I'm all you'll need" said a familiar eye patch wearing girl.

At first Cooper seemed surprised but then regained his composure. "Very well Yasuga, if you want to kill the one you're always babbling on about liking then be my guest" Cooper said, grinning viciously.

"Very well then, no mercy" Yasuga said as she walked in between Cooper and Phil, picking her scissors up along the way.

_What is she doing?_ Phil thought. _I thought we were friends now, but she decides to work with Cooper more. No wait a second…_

As Yasuga walked, she turned her face away from Cooper and pretended to brush her hair. Then she winked at Phil and he understood he needed to play along. "Anyone who is a friend of Cooper is an enemy of mine" Phil said drawing his swords again. "Now attack me if you dare".

Phil took his stance as Yasuga took hers right next to Cooper. At the moment of highest tension, Yasuga turned and plunged her scissors into the chest of Cooper. "…why are you doing this… I thought you swore loyalty to me only" Cooper said in a mix of pain and surprise as he pulled the scissors out of himself.

"This is what you get for lying and saying Phil was dead" Yasuga said coldly as she walk next to her crush and wrapped an arm around him despite his hesitation. "I don't care about any agreement I made with you. All I care about is my Phil".

"Ummm, you can let me breath now" Phil said, as Yasuga's hug was making him very uncomfortable.

Suddenly, Cooper's loyal pawn Bradley swooped in. "We have to get you out of here sir" Bradley said, lifting the man onto his shoulders. "And next time, I'll kill you myself".

"Don't count on it" Phil said as Bradley jumped from the roof and ran off, carrying the wounded Cooper with him.

A police car arrived at the scene, responding to all the commotion. An officer hoped out and pointed his gun at Bradley, who was charging him katana in hand. However despite getting a few shots off, the man was still felled by a stab through the chest. As more police cars responded to the scene, Bradley and Cooper got into the now empty police cruiser and sped off with most of the police chasing them, leaving only a car or two to tend to the dying man.

Phil and Yasuga observed what went down from the rooftop, but first they had to attend to the people on the roof. "Taki, can you stand?" Phil asked, walking over to his loner friend.

"Yeah I can" Taki said, taking the hand Phil extended.

"…Well this was certainly interesting…" said the mystery girl. "I'll be observing you".

"Who are you, who do you work for and why are you watching us?" Phil asked as the girl was about to jump to another rooftop.

"The names Shiori" the albino girl said. "I work for no one but myself and watching you amuses me".

With that Shiori bounded from roof to roof and then blended into the shadows. Phil, Yasuga and Taki climbed down to the street and stood next to the dying officer. "…after all of those years of service… here in America and in Britian… I can't belive my time has finally come" the man said weakly. The ran pulled a picture out of his wallet and looked at it, a tear coming to his eye. "…please, tell my daughter I love her".

The man eventually passed away and his hand dropped the picture, which slipped away and landed face up. "Isn't she…" Taki said sadly.

"Yes, I think I know who the daughter is…"

An hour later:

A blond haired girl woke up slowly and then realized there was banging on her front door. She thought it was odd that her father hadn't answered the door since he should have been home from work. She hastily threw on some clothes from the day before and ran down the stairs of her house. She happily flung the door open, but her mood soon changed.

"Alice White?" the officer asked.

"Yes that's me" Alice said. "Is there a problem?"

"*sigh* I don't know how to tell you this…" the officer said.

Alice's eyes grew large. "No… this isn't happening…"

"…but your father was killed this morning in the line of duty" the man continued.

"This isn't real" Alice said panicked. "My dad is too strong. He could never die. If he died, I'd be alone…"

"I'm sorry" the officer said, looking at the ground because he didn't want to see the girl's pain.

"It's just not fair!" Alice screamed as she fell to her knees. "First mother and now him. Why is this happening to me!?"

The policemen hugged and comforted her as her memory drifted elsewhere…

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown Hospital, Philadelphia 11:39PM

Alice woke up with a start, sweat dripping off her forehead. "Couldn't sleep?" the boy, Noah, in the hospital room with her whispered, not asleep himself.

Alice too deep and long breathes as her heart raced as she felt her wounds ache more. For some reason, she felt that something really bad was about to happen.

Outside the hospital

"Why are we here at the hospital?" a thug in a 10 person group asked. "Seems like a big waste of time to me".

A girl with tattoos across her body and a large scar across her face unsheathe a machete and stared at a picture of the now deceased Bradley. "Because someone important to me was taken away and in turn I will take what is most important to his killer!"

Who is this new member of 781? What was her connection to Bradley? Will Alice and Noah survive the night? What became of Phil and Maris' arguments? How will the other groups manage on this fated night? Did Cooper ever recover? What happened to Yasuga? Who exactly is Cooper's head scientist really? How does this all tie into the Z day apocalypse? Will Phil and his friends reach the orphanage or will someone slow them down? Who the heck is this Shiori character? Find out in the next thrilling installment (hopefully published very soon).

I do want to talk a bit about a relevant issue to the Fanfiction community and especially the H.O.T.D. genre which has many SYOC stories such as my own. Recently, one of my friends on here had his story taken down. The reason in my eyes was pretty plain to see, as the story had no familiar setting or character the same as the anime. But that brought an important issue to light for me. Multiple of my friends/fellow writers on this site have had their stories deleted for no reason that was particularly obvious to me. This both is bad for the readers of the story and must be particularly depressing for those writers to see their work and the reviews/popularity their story has amassed disappear because some worker behind a computer finds their story violates some obscure rule of the site. However, the most popular active story in our little genre here (there's no point hiding it, it's Time Trax of the Dead) doesn't seem to be effected by these rules due to its sheer popularity (nearly triple the review of any other story in this genre including mine). In one of the more recent chapters a week ago, there was a very detailed scene depicting sexual actions between two of the shows characters. I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy reading it or that I dislike the story (hell, I even have it favorited as most likely you do too) but I see multiple problems with this. First, the author should move the story to an M rating, but that isn't the real problem here. A little while ago the site purged all adult content and reserved the M category for excessive violence, language, ect… My point is reviews shouldn't have an influence on the severity of the sites judgment on a story. I think the site should either not be afraid to take anything down from the site that violates rules or go back to being more lenient as they were before the most recent rule change. However I think they are a little scared of taking down one of the stories near, at or above 100 reviews because of the possible backlash. And if they if they feel like taking my story off because of this little thought provoker then that's fine by me as long as I get my point across. Other than that, my story follows all the written and unwritten rules for this genre, because it will have zombies, be located at a school for a bit and eventually include some if not all the characters from the anime.

Also I'll give a few quick shout outs to a few stories worth checking out. If you like my H.O.T.D. fic, then make sure to check out my good buddy RicBP's story Decaying World. It star Richard Hiroshi (basically the more American version of Rikio) and feature Phil Angelo as a deuterogamist. However as of this publish the story has been taken down a second time and is currently down.

If he ever gets around to updating I'm co-writing for AvMoari's story We Need to Work Together. So if he ever decides to do the writing make sure to check that out because it has some cool ideas and characters.

An avid reader of mine The 13 Page NoteBook has decided to continue writing his The World Ends With you fic, The World Ends With No One. This is a rare SYOC story for this game, which is a very good game if you haven't played it. If you need another reason to check it out, two words: Reaper Phil.

Last but not least, either of the two active stories from my buddy JBOSS1012. He is currently running two SYOC stories, one for H.O.T.D. and one for the ever popular Sword Art Online. Both his stories are a bit underrated and underappreciated in my mind, with a light hearted style all its own that isn't afraid to deviate from the source material.

Remember to review and all that jazz. Until next time, Lazersword88 signing out.


	14. Chapter 13: Love and Sacrifice

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 here. This is the chapter we've all been waiting for! The end of the Cooper arc is almost upon us and boy will there be some shockers before the zombies even get loose. Every character will be introduced and everyone will have a role to play. That being said, this chapter will focus in on a few of the lesser developed characters. Also for those who just submitted characters, boy do I have a treat in store for you in the coming chapters… Anyway let's get right into it! Enjoy and don't forget to review/PM!

Cooper's Secret Warehouse Base 2.5 months before z-day

After briefing Lex, Anders and Stanley on their mission, Cooper took a seat at his desk in his office. Cooper wondered whether he had sent the team of three to their death. After all, Phil was one of the strongest to emerge from his program and he had a powerful group of friends backing him. However Cooper decided to concentrate on what was in front of him, since he was already 100% committed to this plan. The door to the office opened and a familiar scientist walked in, taking a sip of some port wine as he took a seat against the wall near Cooper.

"You seem like you have quite a bit on your mind old man" the scientist said.

"Well if you were in my shoes then you would too" Cooper said back to his significantly younger partner in crime. "So tell me, what was your reason behind entrusting me with all the formulas for my project? I'm by no means a chemist and I wouldn't be anywhere without your help."

"Don't worry, I have my reasons" the young man said with a slightly sinister smile. "Just think of this miracle virus as a generous gift from me. And besides, without your funding and protection, none of this could have happened either".

"The only thing that surprises me still is that you found all of this out at such a young age" Cooper said, pouring himself out a small glass of bourbon out of his mini fridge before sitting down next to his accomplice.

"Well, they don't call me a prodigy for nothing" the young man said, smiling and taking another sip of his dessert wine. "And the funny part of it is, nowhere from where I'm from knows I'm smart or sinister. I guess I'm a bit like this wine here" the young man said, holding up and admiring his drink. "I'm sweet at that start, but those who cross my path face a bitter end".

The two stood up and left the office after finishing their drinks. Here they stood on the catwalk path over the main room of the warehouse. Staring down and admiring the hundreds of innocent teens they had held captive, the young scientist turned to Cooper. "We have finished going through all the captured teens. While we have run out of subjects who are naturally compatible with the virus, I have an idea you might like…"

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown Hospital, Philadelphia 11:39PM

Alice woke up with a start, sweat dripping off her forehead. "Couldn't sleep?" the boy, Noah, in the hospital room with her whispered, not asleep himself.

Alice stared vacantly at the room's wall, not responding to Noah's comment. "Are you ok?" Noah asked, worriedly.

Snapping to, Alice quickly looks over at the boy in the room's other bed. "Huh? Yeah I'm fine" Alice said quickly.

"Are you sure you ok?" Noah asked tentatively. "If you need me to page a nurse I can…"

"When did I say that I needed any help!?" Alice snapped. "Even if I'm bleeding out over here, that doesn't give you the right to start acting like you're my mother or something".

"Why the hell are you yelling at me" Noah said back, a bit baffled. "Other people are trying to sleep in this hospital! What would your parents say if they heard you cause all this?"

"My parents are dead you asshole" Alice said, looking away angrily.

"Hey, I'm sorry I brought it up…" Noah tried to say.

"Just shut the hell up and let me sleep" Alice said. _It's not like I'm going to get any sleep anyway_ Alice thought. _I watched two of my best friends die today_.

An awkward silence filled the room as the two wallowed away into their own thoughts and memories.

Outside the hospital

"Why are we here at the hospital?" a thug in a 10 person group asked. "Seems like a big waste of time to me".

A girl with tattoos across her body and a large scar across her face unsheathe a machete and stared at a picture of the now deceased Bradley. "Because someone important to me was taken away and in turn I will take what is most important to his killer!"

"So who killed the captain?" one of the thugs asked.

"According to Cooper, it was a blue haired teen named Rexen" the tattooed girl said, a tear or two in her eye. "I want to kill that man with my own two hands, but that isn't enough me. I want to watch him suffer for what he did to Bradley".

"What about the other former commander?" one of the goons asked. "Isn't he just as responsible?"

"Cooper ordered Phil to leave him" the tattooed girl said. "And admittedly, he is out of my league. I only made it into 781 because Bradley insisted on it. Even if I've grown stronger, I'm still no match for someone from Cooper's original recruits to the group".

"Why do you care about this Bradley guy so much" one goon asked. "Was he your little schoolgirl crush or something?"

Suddenly the tattooed girl punched that goon so hard he flew into the side of a building and the concrete cracked from the impact. "Don't you dare insult me!" the women said. "He was my only true friend and love. There's a lot more to Bradley then you think…"

Many years before

The pouring rain splashed into the dark cold alley as the stormy night breeze caressed the skin and sent shivers through those not fortunate enough to have a roof or a coat. One such girl was Denise Rowland, a once popular tomboy whose fall from grace would be hard for anyone who knew her to believe. The muscular girl hung her head in shame as the heavy rain washed the blue dye out of the tips of her black colored hair. She only wore a sports bra and short synthetic shots, her extensive body tattoos visible to all. Though she was 200 lbs. from all lifting she had done, she was starved and thinned from her extensive drug use. Her expression was blank and eyes showing no spirit as the rain soaked her cold shivering frame. She thought about how she had ruined her life and where it all went wrong. She had thrown out everything and everyone important to her, going on a heartbroken downward spiral. She was only now realizing the consequences of what she had become.

Two thugs trotted down the alley and one of them spotted the soaked girl. "Wait isn't that…" one of them whispered, to which Denise made no response. They ran up the girl and stood over her. "You still owe us for the last round of cocaine we gave you!" one of the thugs screamed, grabbing the girl and holding her by her throat.

"I… don't have any" the girl with tattoos said, looking away and coughing.

"Then this will teach you to pay up!" the thug said as they grabbed her, punched her repeatedly and slammed her on the ground.

Denise rolled on the ground in pain, feeling that a few of her bones broke. However, with blood streaming from her mouth, she got back on her knees and stared at the thugs with that emotionless glare.

"The bitch still wants more" one thug said laughing. "Fine, it's your funeral".

The thug pulled a machete from a sheath slung on his back. "What are you doing?!" the other thug pleaded. "Killing her won't do anything! Let's see if we can get value for her or something".

"No, I'm going to kill her right here" the second thug said as he brandished the black machete. "Sometime insects need to be crushed!"

As he said that he lunged at Denise and impaled her clean through her chest as Denise hurled blood onto the watery streets. The man didn't remove his machete from the girl's chest as he crouched to her level. "I'm not going to let you die that easily" the thug said. "I'm going to slowly chop you to bits so you will experience as much pain as possible before you finally expire".

Denise didn't respond at all to the threat, her vacant eyes looking down and awaiting death to finally claim her. Suddenly out of nowhere a lone swordsmen beheaded the two thugs with one clean slice of his katana. He quickly ran to the girl's aid. As Denise's vision began to blur, she looked over at the man who was slowly removing the blade from her chest. "Who are you?" she asked weakly.

"Just a lost soul" the man said as Denise blacked out.

The man quickly got to work, removing both his jacket and t-shirt. Tearing his t-shirt to shreds, he uses a long strand of it to wrap both sides of Denise's wound. Then he put his jacket onto her body to keep her warm. He picked up the girl and the machete, carrying them both out of the alley. He needed to find someone with medical experience fast but neither he, or the girl he thought, could afford the hospital. Panicked, he ran down the streets desperate to find any person or place that might help. Eventually he came across a middle aged man in a police uniform that blocked his path. "Is that girl severely injured?" the man inquired.

"Yes she is" the man holding the girl said. "Can you help us?"

"I can, but you will have to make an agreement with me that is not for the weary of heart" the mustached man replied. "What do you say?"

The man with the sword looked at the tattooed girl in his arms and then back up at the man in front of him. "Fine, I'm in" the swordsmen said.

A few days later

Denise awoke in an unfamiliar room with uniformly patterned gray walls. Sitting at her bedside was the same swordsman who had rescued her.

"How was your rest?" the swordsmen asked.

"Ok, I guess" Denise said, feeling the heavy wraps around her stomach and possible stich work. "How long have I been out for?"

"Almost a week" the jet black haired man said. "You lost a lot of blood there".

"Who are you exactly?" the Denise asked. "I'm Denise by the way".

"My name is Bradley, nice to meet you for real" the man said, his captivating blue eyes meeting hers.

"So Bradley, where are we" Denise said observing her surroundings again.

"This is a secret underground level of the police station" Bradley replied. "The man I found was able to treat you here. However, he asked that I join a new police group in exchange for helping you."

"You did what!?" Denise snapped, grabbing Bradley and holding him up by his collar. "Do you realize how stupid your decision was? I had nothing left to live for! You shouldn't have been forced to join some combat team just to save a screw up like me".

Bradley put a hand on Denise's shoulder and gave her a serious but slightly saddened look. "You're not the only person who has nothing to go back to" Bradley said, surprising Denise. "I was ostracized by the Horoda family, my clan. The Horoda's were for a longtime a samurai clan who served under the Japanese Emperor. With the advent of technology such as gunpowder, the country lost its need for groups such as ours. However, my family soon became a critical part of the yakuza. I was sent along with a small portion of my family from Japan here to America to establish ourselves stateside. However, on one of my first missions, I wasn't able to make myself kill a small child despite being order to by my superiors. So the family disowned me and left me to rot on the streets. Even if I have to pledge my services to someone I don't trust, at least I'm fighting for something again."

"What should I do then?" Denise asked. "Is my life committed to him too?"

"No, I made sure of it" Bradley said. "I wanted to at least give you a chance to go do and be with those you want, not someone you're required to work for. So what will you do once you fully recover?"

Denise brought Bradley into a hug and fell back onto the bed with him on top of her. "I want to stay right here" she said, blushing a bit.

Bradley was stunned speechless by this. "You're the first person in a long time to truly care about me" Denise said, looking to Bradley's blue eyes with her own bright green ones. "I don't care if I might die doing this job. I would gladly venture through any hell alongside you. It would be better than going back to a life where everyone hates me".

"I don't know what to say" Bradley said, eying up Denise's tattooed body. "No one's ever acted this way around me…"

"Shhhh…" Denise said. "What do you think of my tattoos?"

"I think they tell a lot about your character and story" Bradley said smiling. "It's sort of like a living mural".

"A mural?" Denise asked. "I kind of like that".

"This Cooper guy says we need to come up with codenames for this police group" Bradley said. "How about you use Mural?"

"I like that, new best friend" Denise said, pulling him in for a short kiss.

The years and months passed as Denise and Bradley were further trained by Cooper and learned what life was like as part of the ever expanding team. Denise and Cooper, being loners together, tended to be a bit exclusive and not interact with the team as much. Despite this Bradley became a unit commander because of his loyalty to Cooper. However when he found out Denise wasn't on his team, he was upset. The two spent almost all their free time together, vowing that one day they would run away together after their commitment to the team was over. However, this never happened since Bradley was struck down.

Even some of the most hardened and grizzled thugs in Mural's contingent were brought to tears by the tragic story. "We're sorry we ever said anything" one of the thugs, wiping away a few tears. "We'll be delighted to follow you in to this hospital and snuff that girl out".

"Great to hear…" Denise said, trying to get herself to stop tearing up. "Let's get this done".

Back Inside the Hospital

Alice and Noah still sat on their respective beds, deep in thought and facing away from each other. Alice reflected on all the friends and family she had lost, sadly wondering why it all had to have happened to her. Meanwhile, Noah was angry at himself for getting Alice upset. Now he thought he might never get to admit her true feelings for her. Noah has had a crush on Alice since the beginning of this, their freshman year of high school. However, Noah didn't know how to communicate to Alice one of his darkest secrets, that he was bi-sexual. Although he has never been with another guy, recently guys have started to interest him and girls bore him. At first he was confused by his feelings but later accepted him. However for some reason he still had a deep crush on Alice despite his newfound feelings. He'd been trying to work up the courage to talk to Alice for a long time. However whenever he tries he either backs down or Alice is talking to that Rexen kid who he despised mostly out of jealously. However, now that he has had his chance to talk with her alone, he finds a way to get her steaming.

Just as Noah was going to try to talk to her again, the alarm system of the hospital went off. "Attention all patients and staff" a speaker crackled. "An unknown intruder has been spotted in the building. Please lock your doors and remain silent".

Noah, being the only one of the two who could really stand, hobbled over to the light switch. After turning it off, Noah wheeled Alice's bed over to the side which woke Alice from a slight daze. "Hey! What are you…?"

Noah motioned for Alice to be quite and she nodded as he locked the door. The two remained silent as the whole building stood still. Suddenly someone started banging on the door franticly. "Help, please let me…" someone said outside before two gunshots rang out and a body could be heard hitting the ground.

"What are we going to do?" Alice whispered.

Noah opened a drawer of medical tools and eventually found a long, thick metal pole with attached medical apparatus. After tearing off the useless pieces, Noah was armed enough to defend himself. "If they come in here I'll handle them" Noah said, trying to concentrate.

"You shouldn't be doing this" Alice said, noticing Noah's wrapped and bandaged bullet wound again.

"Don't worry, I can handle this" Noah said, half reassuring and half doubtful of his own statements.

Suddenly, footsteps could be heard approaching the door and then stopping in front of it. "Looks like this is the right room" one of the thugs said. "Let's impress the boss and nab this chick before she even gets here".

The doors burst open and five thugs filed into the room. As soon as they entered, Noah jumped at them with the pole and bashed a few of their heads in, using both ends of the pole to attack. The third thug swiped with his knife, catching Noah with a bad cut near his stomach before he was able to crack the thug with the pole. The fourth thug then knocked Noah down from behind, causing him to slam into the ground and blood to spill onto the floor. However, Noah used the pole to sweep the thug's feet out from under him and cave his face in. The final thug had made his way to Alice's bedside and now held two guns, one pointed at Noah and the other down at Alice. "Stay out of this" the thug said. "We only want to kill her".

"Not on my watch" Noah said, throwing the pole to knock away the gun pointed at Alice. He then charged the thug, who fired a shot that hit Noah's shoulder. Noah then knocked out the thug with a hard high kick to the head before falling to his knees himself.

"Noah, are you alright?!" Alice asked, concerned about the boy.

"I've… been through worse" Noah said, spitting out blood and grimacing in pain as he held his shoulder.

After using some medical tape lying around and some rubbing alcohol to disinfect the wounds as much as he could, Noah stood in front of Alice's bed. "I'm going to get you out of here" he said, forcing a smile.

"Why did you stay?" Alice asked. "As soon as you found out it was me they wanted you could have ran away".

"Well I felt like as your friend I should…" Noah hesitantly asked.

"It has to be more than that" Alice demanded. "Why did you stay?"

Noah sighed for a moment before mustering the courage to answer. "…Because I can't let the girl I've had a crush on for a whole year die" Noah said, shedding a tear and looking into Alice's eyes.

"You…like me?" Alice said a bit stunned.

"We can talk more after I get you out of here" Noah said as he limply pushed the cart with all the strength he could muster out of the double doors and into the hallway.

As they neared the exit, they heard footsteps approaching them from behind. Noah pushed the bed cart up against a wall and drew his pipe, taking as best a stance he could with his vision blurring. Soon a tattooed, well-muscled girl stood before him brandishing a sinister looking black machete. "I commend you in your bravery for saving the girl from my thugs" the girl with the tattoos said. "However, there is no need for both of you to die here. Walk away while you still can".

"Never!" Noah yelled. "I'm fighting for the girl I love and care about!"

"Well, it seems we are both fighting on behalf of the ones we love, or in my case loved" the tattooed girl said. "First of all you can call me Mural, but it won't matter since you'll be dead before you can memorize it. Second your friend Alice here has a friend named Rexen who is responsible for killing my boyfriend Bradley!"

"Wait, you're telling me that Rexen beat him" Noah said, a newfound intensity sparking inside him at the mention of his rival's name. "Then I'll have to beat you even quicker than Bradley!"

"What did you say?!" Denise said, steaming. "I'll crush you, foolish man!"

"Don't do this" Alice said, tears flowing down her cheeks. "You don't have a chance. Just run. I can't stand to see more people I know die…"

"Don't worry Alice, this is for you" Noah said as he readied his stance.

Noah and Mural charged straight for each other. As they neared, Noah leapt into the air and prepared a mighty downward swing. However as he swung down he felt his swing force suddenly stop. Denise had caught his pipe with one hand! Denise then flung Noah and his pipe hard against the wall, the pipe rolling away from Noah. However, Noah still had fight left in him as he rose once again, collecting his pipe. Noah this time charged straight at Denise without jumping. He frantically swung and swiped the pipe at Denise, who sidestepped and blocked his attacks. Eventually, Denise counter attacked with a swing of her machete, which cut slightly into Noah's arm.

Noah backed away, out of breath and out of options. "Where's all the confident talk from a minute ago" Denise cooed from across the hall, which was now cover in droplets of Noah's blood.

Noah needed a plan, but thinking became so difficult. He thought about running, but the very idea of Alice suffering a painful death made all such ideas flee his mind. "I guess there's no holding back now" Noah said. "All or nothing".

Noah charged at full speed towards Denise, who held her ground. As he neared her, Noah bounded off one of the walls and swung horizontally with all of his remaining strength. "Take this!" he screamed as his pipe neared Denise's face.

"Oh no you don't!" Denise cried out as she swung back hard.

The pole and blade met with a loud clang. However, the metal pipe shattered and the pieces sprayed on the ground. In a panic, Noah tried to high kick Denise in the head. But Denise ducked under and impaled Noah with her machete.

Alice's eyes filled with fright as Noah staggered back and collapsed onto the ground, blood pooling on the ground. Denise's shoes splashed through the blood as she made her way to deliver the final blow. However a syringe hit Denise's neck from behind, injecting her with a strange blue fluid. As she stumbled to the side a massive tome smashed her in the face and left her unconscious on the ground.

"Who are you?" Alice asked the petite girl with white hair and red eyes.

"That information doesn't concern you" the girl said emotionlessly. "Just be happy you being alive is a unintended byproduct of my goals. Now I will be taking this girl to a place you will never see her again. I need to be going now" the girl said, slipping back into the shadows and out a window.

"Wait, stop!..." Alice tried to say, but in vain.

Alice then turned her attention to Noah, whose breathing was becoming labored. She quickly tried to get out of her bed, but fell to the ground hard under the weight of her previous injuries. She crawled over to him and put his head on her lap, her tears washing away some of the blood on his face. Noticing her tears, Noah became slightly more animated. "Don't cry over me, because I did what I had to in order to protect you".

"Noah…" Alice said, breaking down into tears.

"I just wanted to say one more time…" Noah began. "…I loved you Alice. Even if you never acknowledged my feelings, as long as you were happy I would have been to. Even though I loved to hate Rex, he's a good guy and I'm jealous of him…"

"Noah stop!" Alice shouted. "There's still time to get you help!"

"I want you to tell my parent's I loved them" Noah continued. "They always understood me better than anyone…"

"Goddammit Noah! I'm telling you to fucking stay with me!" Alice screamed, her eyes gushing with tears as she tried with all her effort to pick herself and Noah up off the ground before falling hard to the ground every time.

As Alice tried to regain her breath and strength, Noah's trembling hand touched the back of Alice's head and pulled towards Noah's as they shared an emotional kiss. "Hahaha…" Noah laughed. "Kissing you was one of my goals before the school year ended. I just wish it could have been better circumstances. Oh well, at least I can die happy…"

And with those final words Noah passed away in Alice's arms, a smile stretched across his face as Alice bawled over his now lifeless body.

Elsewhere

Shiori bounded through the shadows of the night and over the rooftops of the city. On her back she carried Denise, who was still unconscious. In the vial she had injected Denise with was a banned drug that caused amnesia and memory loss. Shiori believed that while Denise did need to pay for her past crimes, any recollection of Bradley may drive her mad and destroy any chance she had at reintegrating into normal society. Shiori had been carefully monitoring Denise and keeping an active record on her, the other 781 members and civilians of interest. Unlike most of the police group 781 members, Shiori saw the potential for Denise to change back into a good person eventually. That was why Shiori was headed to the police station to drop of Denise and the evidence of her former crimes.

Police Chief Brown heard a loud banging sound on the roof. Going up to find out what it was, he came across an unconscious girl with illegal drugs on her person and extensive reports of that and other illegal actions. "I know a perfect place down south we could send this one…"

Inside the Hospital

Alice had crawled her way to one of the medicine cabinets. With some work she pulled herself up the cabinet and pulled out a few syringes, injecting the pain easing adrenaline drugs into her system. After a few moments, she was able to stand because of the numbness. She picked up the bloody machete and sheathed it. "It is a vile weapon, but it will do for now" she said. "I… must… kill all of 781, even if it kills me". She pulled cell phone after cell phone off the thugs that Noah beat until she found one with a warehouse address. "These assholes better watch themselves, because I don't plan on showing any mercy to them either…"

Walking out of the hospital, Alice crosses through a nearby park. She spots something useful on bank of the lake and picks it up. Fastening the mask to her face, she giggles crazily to herself. "Now, it's over for them!"

What will the scientist suggest to Cooper? Who is the scientist? How will Noah's confession and death affect Alice? What kinds of confusion will Alice having Rikio's mask cause? Who does Shiori really work for?

As for where they are going to send Denise, you'll find out right now. Tomorrow I plan on releasing the OC application for a brand new H.O.T.D. SYOC story. The story will be for the most part separate from this one, will have a unique concept and you can send in new characters for it. However, I wanted to try a new idea out with this story. I will create four OC's for the story and you guys can pick the two that you want in the story out of the four. This gives you guys more of a voice in my stories and helps me appeal to the readers. Anyway thanks for reading. Remember to review and PM!


	15. Chapter 14: Forgone Promises: Part 1

Hello there everyone, Lazersword88 here with the first part of the final chapter of the Cooper arc. Fair warning, this chapter will jump around quite a bit as it needs to conclude everyone's pre z-day stories. Every character in the series will appear in this chapter, so it will be a long and action heavy chapter where many secrets will be revealed. Make sure to review, PM and check out my new story. Enjoy!

Note: I've decided to break this chapter up so I can publish what I have. This is the first half. Expect the finale soon.

2 years and 6 months before z-day Downtown District, Philadelphia 11PM

Sophia cried out in agony as she crawled across the cold concrete, leaving behind puddles of blood. Pulling herself into her car, which she just got on learners permit, she drives as quickly as she could towards the hospital_. One day I'll get my revenge on that bitch and the one who trained her!_ Was the thought that drove her to stay conscious as she sped along the quiet road.

Suddenly a young looking man stepped into the street from the side of the road and stood directly in the path of Sophia's car, causing her to slam on the brakes. Sophia pounded on the car horn. "What the hell are you doing?!" Sophia yelled weakly. "I could have hit… oh shit, it's you" she said as her eyes lit up with fear. "Cooper sent you to finish me, am I right?"

The lab coat wearing young man walked slowly towards the door of Sophia's car and opened it. "We're very much alike, you and I" the teen began. "We both aren't mindless pawns for Cooper. I'm here because I could use your help."

Sophia raised her brow in suspicion, but was then comforted as the man took of his lab coat and put it on Sophia. "What do I get in return…?" Sophia asked weakly.

"I'll patch you up and make you as good as new" the mysterious man said as he examined the girl's wounds. "From the looks of it, you don't have as long as you think to live".

"What do you want me… to do in return?" Sophia as her consciousness continued to fade.

"Just fire one bullet" the scientist said, holding up a special bullet already in the cartridge that the M21 fires. "Trust me, it will benefit both of us. So what do you say?"

"Fine I'm in…" Sophia said as she passed out in his arms as the young man grinned sinisterly.

Elsewhere

An old rickety bus rolled down the deserted streets with seven teens in it. Alistar drove the old bus towards the orphanage as Phil sat in the seat behind him with Lane by his side. Sora was chatting with both of them from the seat across, sitting with Rexen. Rexen was really into the conversation, trying to learn more about his new daredevil friends. Layla sat squeamishly in the co-pilot seat, giving Alistar directions. In the far back of the bus away from everyone, Maris sat looking out the window. Layla saw her sitting alone and told Phil to relay the directions to Alistar as she went to talk with her new friend.

"Why don't you come up and talk with us?" Layla asked nervously.

"I don't particularly want to" Maris replied, not even looking away from window.

"Come on! We're your friends" Layla said as she pulled Maris in order to look her in eye. "Lighten up for once!"

"There is nothing light about this situation" Maris said, pushing Layla's arm off her and looking very serious. "I can't believe you guys can just make small talk when hundreds of lives are on the line".

"You have a point, but you need to lighten up" Layla retorted. "Otherwise you'll never have any fun".

Maris looked away and shut her eyes. "Your way to naïve" she said softly. "There's a lot more important in life than just having fun. Just leave me alone, ok?"

Layla hesitantly made her way up to the co-pilot seat. The otherwise happy mode became quite somber once the others noticed the sad look on Layla's face.

"Is she acting the way I think she is?" Phil asked.

"Yea…" Layla said. "She won't open up to me, no matter how hard I try".

"Don't worry lass" Alistar said, still watching the road. "I've known her almost as long as Phil has and she treats almost everyone like that".

"Why does she act like that?" Rexen asked, looking back at the girl with the dark red eyes. "Something bad happen between all you guys?"

"It's pretty complicated" Phil said. "She had some pretty messed up things happen to her in her past. As she remembered more and more of it after we saved her, she grew much darker. I think something happened in her past that's given her a general distrust of people. I was the only one she really talked to and recently we've had a few arguments".

"So that's why she's never around anymore" Lane chimed in.

Suddenly Phil's phone rang. "Hello, who is this?" Phil said answering.

"Yo this is Aito here" the slightly eccentric student council president said through his earpiece. It's good to hear you're still alive".

"How's the siege going?" Phil asked. "Any sign of Taki yet?"

"We're just starting on this end" Aito said. "However, a small problem just occurred to me. How are we going to extract over a hundred prisoners if we rescue them all?" he asked as he hit a headshot with his Remington Model 770 in background.

Phil thought on it for a moment. "I'm in a fairly large bus at the moment with a small team near where you are" Phil said. "How about we send the bus over your way to help you out."

"But I thought you had to head to your orphanage!" Aito said, looking for guards to shoot down from his perch outside the warehouse.

"I'll go on foot there and once I'm finished I'll catch up with you guys at the warehouse" Phil said. "It won't take me long".

"I'll go too" Lane said to Phil. "I can't let anything bad happen to you, can I?"

"What about me and Layla?" Sora asked. "Can we come too?"

"I think Lane and I will be enough to handle the goons at the orphanage" Phil said, looking over to a concerned looking Sora. "Don't worry! I'll be fine. The rest of the guys need your help freeing all the captured teens".

Phil pulls his phone out and sent a text…

Elsewhere

Yasuga stood on the top of a rooftop, a silent sentinel watching for something or someone with an unbreakable focus. Her phone rang and when she saw the text was from Phil she blushed and smiled a little before reading it.

An Hour Before (Back in Chapter 3E)

Phil, Rexen and Lane ran through the city streets on their way to Alistar's house. Phil would definitely need his help if what he thought was occurring was the truth. Suddenly Phil's phone rang and he opened it to find a new text. The text was from Maris and read 'something major is going on in the city. There are reported mass kidnappings and violence the city in the city. I've pinpointed the location the gangs seem to be bringing the kidnapped people'. The rest of the message was an address of a warehouse on the other side of the city. Realizing there was no way he could get there quickly on foot, he sent out two texts and dialed a number on his phone.

"Hey Phil!" Yasuga said enthusiastically as she answered the phone. "You want to hang out or something?"

"Not right now, I have something serious for you to do" Phil said seriously, but with a hint of happiness in his tone. "You hear about the attacks and kidnappings around the city?"

"Yeah, I already know about" Yasuga said, peering through the pile of unconscious thugs outside of her and her mother's apartment. "A few thugs already paid me a visit".

"You didn't kill them did you right?" Phil asked. "I don't want you to go crazy again".

"I made sure they are still alive, but they won't be bothering us again" the pale green haired girl said.

"Is your mother ok?" Phil asked, concerned about Yasuga's last remaining family member.

"She's fine, but about as frightened as I've seen her since that day…" the girl began to say.

"Yasuga, are you ok!?" Phil said, concerned about his friend.

"Sorry I was just remembering so painful memories…" Yasuga said back.

"Is it about the day most of your family died?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, the day that changed my life forever" Yasuga said, running her hand across her eye patch covered eye. "If you weren't there, who knows how badly things could have turned out…"

Two Years Prior (4 ½ years before z-day)

Yasuga lurched from shadow to shadow, stalking her prey. But this wasn't the same girl that Phil knew in the future. A crazed presence had taken over, hell-bent on killing the murderer who had taken her family and her eye from her.

As the pale green haired girl lurked in the shadows she came across her target, playing cards with two other thugs in an alleyway. With no mercy, the girl snuck behind the first thug that had her back to her and plunged the same scissors that had taken her eye into the thug's neck. The second thug frantically tried to stand up and draw his gun, but bobbled the gun his gun and dropped it. He dived to the ground to try to pick the gun up, but he met the same fate as his comrade when scissors brutally went through both of his eyes.

The only ones left in the alley were the psychopath and her green haired assailant. The man rose to his feet and started to clap. "Marvelous job there girly" the deranged man said. "It's always nice to see youngsters embrace there inner demons like me".

"Shut up!" Yasuga screamed as she dashed towards the man who had killed most of her family and swiped at him furiously with his own scissors. "I'm nothing like you, monster!"

"Sure you are!" the crazed man said, drawing his own pair of scissors and dodging Yasuga thrusts. "You're killing someone in a back alley and you're enjoying, don't lie".

"Shut up and die" Yasuga screamed as her stab hit the man's hand, causing him to drop the scissors. The scissors bounced off the ground and slid behind Yasuga. The man cowardly ran away, but was stopped by a dead end. He desperately tried to find a way escape or something to grab onto, but he was out of options.

"If you kill me, you'll end up just like me" the crazy man said with a laugh as a bit of sweat rolled down his brow.

"I'm not afraid of you" Yasuga. "But I will end you so that you can never ruin another girls life again.

Yasuga ran at the man and kicked his legs out from under him and plunged the scissors deep in his chest as he spat out blood. After Yasuga was on top of the man and had him pinned, she took of the bandaging that was hiding her now disfigured right eye. "What you've done to me will be the last thing you'll ever see".

With that the deranged man laughed hysterically. "You are me" he said still laughing. "The look in your eyes, your weapon and everything else are the same as me".

The man tried to lick Yasuga's face but she had had enough. She madly and rapidly stabbed the man. Even after he was clearly, she kept stabbing him as blood spattered all over her clothes. Getting her vengeance and defiling the body made her feel good. So good in fact that a wicked, sinister smile crossed her face as she repeatedly stabbed the lifeless body.

On the rooftops near the building, a two young men wearing black hoods jumped from roof to roof on their way to a target. A string of murders had happened recently and they had been sent by the secret police group's handler Cooper had sent them to track down the psychopath responsible. The two moved stealthily across the rooftops, which was surprising since one carried a very bulky weapon. Reaching the destination the tip to the police said the murderer would be, the two jumped down from the roof using the fire escapes. However they were surprised but not shaken by the scene below, both of them used to seeing death.

One of the two young men saw Yasuga relentlessly slashing the body and tried to approach her from behind. He tried to grab her, but the girl turned around and slashed at him with her scissors. The boy jumped back, his hood sliding off to reveal medium length ginger hair that covered one of his piercing dark green eyes. "Don't make me kill you, because I don't want to" the operative said, removing his huge red tinted grey scythe. "Should I strike?" the ginger turned and said to the other hooded man. "There's a good chance she could be the murderer".

"Are you ever going to read the case reports before your missions Thanatos?" the second hooded figure asked mockingly. "I'm willing to bet that unrecognizable corpse over there is the murderer".

"So then what do we do… wait what are you doing?" Thanatos asked as the second hooded man as he walked towards the girl.

"Get away from me" Yasuga said trembling. "I swear I'll cut you to pieces if you don't stop!" she said as her hands trembled and she backed into the dead end of the alley as the man approached.

Unexpectedly, Yasuga bumped into the wall which distracted her long enough for the hooded man to dash in for her. She raised her scissors in hopes of stabbing the man, but she was surprised when the boy hugged her instead. The man's hood dropped down to reveal dark brown curly hair and a caring expression. "It's ok, no one is trying to hurt you anymore" Phil said as he patted the girl on the back.

Yasuga was silent and trembling for a moment before she dropped the scissors. Tears began to roll down her face which turned to violent sobbing as she cried into the tall teen's chest. The ginger teen behind Phil walked to them, re-sheathing his menacing weapon. "I'll never figure out how you know when to do that" Thanatos said. "Looks like you've got this under control. See you back at base" the man said before jumping back to the roof and running off.

15 Minutes later

As Yasuga was washing all the blood of her, a heated discussion was happening in the basement compounds office. Many of the operatives who were about to bed down for the night circled around the office tried to listen in, one of which was Rikio. Rikio had no memory of anyone getting in an argument of this size with Cooper before.

Inside the office the argument was raging on. "Are you really thinking about forcing this girl to join 781!" Phil yelled as he paced the room. "Don't you see how emotionally scarred she is after the fight she was in tonight".

"I already told you, I couldn't give two shits about how she feels about that fight" Cooper barked, standing up and hands pounding on his desk on each word. "We can't just let her reintegrate into society. She would at the very least go to juvy for vigilante justice".

"She did you a favor in killing of the murderer" Phil yelled back. "Just give her one or two mental health seminars of something. There's absolutely no need to add more trauma to life! She's already experienced enough suffering!"

"My word is final!" Cooper said, bashing the desk so hard that a picture frame fell off and glass shards sprayed across the floor. "She will either join us or she will go to jail. And as punishment for your defiance you aren't allowed to speak with her! If I hear you giving her any ideas I'll kill you myself".

"I bet you won't shoot me down right here" Phil said walking towards his boss.

"You arrogant kid" Cooper said, whipping out a pistol and aiming it at Phil. "You get a captain rank and you think you're your king shit!"

However in an instant Phil dashed over to Cooper and ripped the gun out of his hand before walking away. "They say you're a police captain, yet you forget to take the safety off your gun" Phil said with his back turned walking towards the door. "If you need me for actually saving lives and not ruining them, you know where to find me".

As Phil stepped out of the office, he saw the crowd of people looking at him in a slightly dazed fear. "Rikio come with me" he said.

"But I'm not allowed to go outside…" Rikio started to say.

"Just do it" Phil. "I'll handle them if they try anything".

Back to the Present (Phone Call Flashback)

Yasuga had seen Phil around the group compound in his last few months as a member and had recognized him. It always used to confuse Yasuga why Phil would never talk to her until he told her when they re-met. However, that didn't stop Yasuga from having a crush on Phil that persisted to this day.

"So are you ready to hear what I need you to do?" Phil asked.

"Sure how can I help out?" Yasuga asked, just wanting Phil to get on with it.

"I have reason to believe that Cooper has sent codename Thanatos to kill me" Phil said.

"So you want me to find and kill Hanniel?" Yasuga asked, infinitely more intrigued.

"Not exactly" Phil said. "As I was thinking of the group's members who could be swayed to our cause, he is the most likely candidate to switch to our side. I think you have the best chance of getting him to change his mind because you have a darker side to your personality just like him. Plus if I remember correctly, you told me a while ago that you became good friends before you left the police group".

"That's all true, but this isn't going to be easy" Yasuga said slightly hesitantly. "While Hanniel is a very kind and a good hearted person, he is very loyal to Cooper. Also, like you already know, his personality becomes much more dark and violent whenever Cooper tells him to do something. The experiments Cooper's done on him may have made him even more violent. I'm not sure that he can be persuaded to join us anymore".

"I still would like you to try though, for his sake and ours" Phil concluded. "He could be a valued team member if we show him the truth about Cooper. Also he would make breaking out all the prisoners Cooper is holding much easier. But if all else fails and he won't join us, kill him. We can't have him killing anyone important. Also, don't die please. You're a valued member of my posse and a valued friend to me…"

"Can I get a 'and I love you'" Yasuga inquired.

"Not going to happen" Phil said with a smirk.

"Oh well, a girls has to try" Yasuga said with a sigh.

"I'll text you with where I'm going" Phil added. "Since he's trying to kill me and all, he'll most likely be near where I am".

*End of Flashback*

The cold night breeze blowing across her face pulled Yasuga back to the present. It did so just in time in fact, since the bus with Phil and his friends drove past on the road below. And just like Phil had guessed, a shadowy hooded figure bounded across the rooftops after the bus. Yasuga jumped down from the rooftop towards the Hanniel and as he was jumping the gap between two of the building Yasuga jumped at him. The two collided midair and fall towards the ground. Yasuga is able to grab a fire escape and work her way down at a more manageable speed. Hanniel however fell straight down in a more jarring fall, but was able to pick himself up.

"I sensed something was amiss, but I didn't know I'd run into a traitor tonight" Hanniel said, drawing his massive scythe which shown a crimson grey tint.

"Hanniel, you aren't acting like yourself" Yasuga pleaded. "Please just calm down and let me talk to the real Hanniel".

"This is the real Hanniel" the ginger roared. "The only way you'll talk to that coward in my head is over my dead body".

"I didn't want to do this, but if you won't listen to me no I'll have to beat some sense into you" Yasuga said, drawing her blowgun and loading in a sedative dart.

A moment of stillness persisted for a few seconds as the cold air blew through the cold, empty street. Yasuga made the first move, shooting a dart at Hanniel which hit him in the shoulder as he charged toward towards the pale haired girl. He sung his scythe vertically and Yasuga dodged by jumping to the right. The scythe's impact cracked the pavement and as Hanniel pulled it out of the ground Yasuga strafed to the side and hit him with another dart. However despite the fact that the darts were supposed to make a normal person unconscious quickly, they had little effect on the raging Hanniel. Hanniel swung horizontally at Yasuga who dodge with a front flip over the strike. However the scythe blade caught her ties, causing Yasuga's black hair to flow behind her head down to her shoulders. Yasuga jumped back and fired another dart, but it is blocked by Hanniel's scythe as he dashed after her. Hanniel frantically swung his scythe in all directions, but Yasuga's superior dexterity and flexibility allowed her to dodge Hanniel's increasingly sporadic and sloppy swings. Finally with most of his remaining strength, Hanniel swung vertically. Yasuga dodged fairly easily as the scythe smashed the concrete again. This time Yasuga jumped onto the scythe's and struck him in the head with the metal blowgun, causing him to drop the scythe and drop to the ground, unconscious.

15 minutes later

A few minutes later, Hanniel opened his eyes as Yasuga looked concernedly at him. "Yasuga! How are you" he said out of nowhere, springing up and hugging her.

"Umm it's nice to see you to Hanniel" Yasuga said, seeing that his dark side was gone for now.

"I dig the new hair style" Hanniel said, admiring her friend. "You get that recently?"

"Well, you were the barber…" Yasuga said with an edgy tone.

"Oh so you were fighting my other side" the ginger boy said, removing the darts from his body. "I'm sorry. My other side can be a jerk sometimes."

"Trust me, I know" Yasuga said rolling her eyes because obvious statements are obvious.

"So why are you coming after me… Oh wait I know" Hanniel said with a giddy smirk. "You don't want me hurting Phil, do you?"

"It's more than that" Yasuga said, blushing and looking away. "I'm here to show you the truth about Cooper, his plan and what he's done to you".

"I'll play along I guess because I still trust you" Hanniel said, more serious now. "But what you have to show me better be worth me turning on Cooper".

2 years and 6 months before z-day Shopping District, Philadelphia 1AM (picking up the events of 4a)

The cloaked woman then starts to walk towards Kimino, who is just now on her feet. Looking into her assailant's dead, soulless eyes, Kimino lost hope. How did this happen to us? We were just going to go shopping and suddenly we were being attacked by those armed men Kimino thought. I'm surprised we were able to beat all of them. But that all changed when this woman came and killed two of my best friends. Now I guess it's my turn...

"Don't take another step towards that girl" said a man who steps out of the shadows of a nearby alley.

"Oh goodie another victim" the deranged Korina said, licking here lips. "I'm looking forward to spilling your blood you fool".

"Please, don't be a hero" the purple blue haired gymnast said, dread apparent in here features.

"I can't help it. Heroism is in my blood I guess" the stranger said.

"So what is this 'hero's' name" Korina said sarcastically.

"The names Syth Palador" the boy said, tipping his ten gallon hat and donning a witty smile. "And that will be the last name you hear murderer".

"You talk pretty big for someone without a weapon their cowboy" Korina said, her light blue hair blowing in the same wind the spread the fires of her path of destruction.

"Maybe you should be more observant" Syth said, drawing two long Ka-bar knives and tossing his hat to the side.

Korina charged straight for the knife wielder, a crazed look spread across her face. She stabbed frantically at Syth, who quickly dodged all her strikes. "You're a fast little bugger aren't you" Korina said, frustrated.

"Funny, that's what my ex-girlfriend always said" Syth said with a laugh to himself. "Good one Syth, good one".

"Let's see you laugh when your blood is splatter all over the pavement" Korina said as her rage grew.

Korina charged at Syth with her katana yet again and slashed horizontally. Syth ducked under it quickly. "Are you trying to hit me or something?" Syth said, trying to further irritate Korina.

Korina growled in anger. "Just shut up and die" she screamed, her ferocity matching the fires she had caused.

Korina sliced extremely quickly in a downward vertical motion in what Korina was sure even her speedy adversary couldn't avoid. However, her blade was caught by the two knife blades. "What?" she shrieked as the blade was stripped out of her hands with some quick handiwork of Syth's knives.

"Well it seems I've found someone who enjoys an intense fight as much as I do" Syth said with an almost sinister grin that scared the hell out of Korina. "However, putting innocent lives in danger is not something I can let you do. It's my turn!"

Meanwhile Kimino stood stunned at what was transpiring. _I can't believe what I'm seeing Syth do right now!_ She thought, her cheeks flush red. _Sure I've met the guy at school, but he is one of the most quiet people I know. So then where did all this bravado come from! This edgy, confident and charismatic side I never knew about… I kind of like it!_

Without her killing tool, Korina backed away in hesitant fear. "Let's make this quick and painless shall we?" Syth said as his light brown unruly long hair that was tied in a ponytail in the back swayed in the wind.

"So it seems like I've finally met someone who doesn't fear me in battle" Korina said with a intrigued yet deranged look on her face as she drew her backup knife. "Take your best shot!"

"With pleasure" Syth said, the gaze of his deep azure eyes unmoving.

For the first time Syth charged Korina, unleashing lightning fast barrage of stabs and slashes. _He's so fast! _Korina thought. _Yet his movements are so rhythmic and balance that I can find an opening to counter! This boy is no amateur!_

Syth stepped in with a decisive lunge as Korina dodged to the right. However, this is exactly what Syth wanted. Falling for his ploy, Syth slashed again and the knife grazed Korina's face leaving a small cheek cut on her otherwise exemplary features.

Backing up and holding her face as she felt the blood trickle down it. She knew she had to do something or she would be killed and would have failed her new master Cooper. She scanned around, seeing her katana of to the side in some rubble and Korina, weak from her injuries but still standing. A wicked smile crossed her face as she dashed towards Korina knife in hand. "Where do you think you're going?" Syth said, using his speed to block Korina's path to Kimino.

However Korina smiled, as Syth had fallen for ruse. She instead changed her course and picked up her katana, pointing it towards the duo. "Fooled you, didn't I?" Korina said as Syth gnarled his teeth in rage.

"Kimino, can you run?" Syth asked.

"Yeah I can, why do you ask?" Kimino said, leaning on her bo staff.

"I want you to get out of here and leave the fight to me" Syth said, looking hesitantly at the girl.

"No, I'm not running" Kimino said back. "This murderous psychopath killed my friends and she will pay for".

"Ok, if that's what you want…" Syth said hesitantly, thinking her decision was rash.

"I'll make you pay you bitch!" Kimino yelled out as she rushed towards Korina, staff in hand.

"Kimino what are you thinking!" Syth cried out to no avail.

Kimino rushed towards the katana wielding girl as the later was grinning from ear to ear. "So the gymnast comes to play again" Korina said wickedly.

Kimino swung her staff at Korina who dodged under the swing. Kimino then dropped to her knees and tried to sweep Korina's legs out from under her. Korina dodged the attack, but in one fluid motion Kimino bent her spine back and kicked Korina in the chest scorpion style before flipping back to her feet. Korina quickly rose to her feet again however and laughed as Kimino panted loudly.

"Is that it?" Korina bellowed. "I've had enough of you!"

Korina lunged back as Kimino, who countered by blocking her katana swipes with her staff. However, the integrity of the wooden staff was slowly decreasing. Eventually the staff snapped and wood splinters sprayed everywhere. Seizing the opportunity Kimino struck Korina's sword hand, causing her to drop her blade. In response Korina punched Kimino in the head, knocking her out cold. As Syth charged in to get Kimino out of danger, Korina pulled her motionless body off the ground and put her knife to Kimino's throat. "Surrender your life to me now or she dies" Korina said with a twisted grin…

A few blocks away 15 minutes before

Two 13 year old teens sat in front of a TV as a live report of the current crisis aired over the news. "…as of this hour over 500 teens and children from across the city of Philadelphia have been reported missing" a female news reporter said. "Most of these have been attributed with mysterious mass kidnappings. Police have statement at this time".

The camera switched over to a live feed right outside the city's central police station as police captain Brown was about to answer to issue a statement

"The police are looking into the cause of the kidnappings as we speak" Brown began. "The culprits of the crime and their intentions are currently unknown. We suggest that if your children are at home to not let them out of the house. Also, in case anyone enters your home find something to defend yourselves with. The police are doing everything in their power to rectify the situation. That's all for now" Brown said walking back towards the station doors.

As Brown stepped into the building he pulled out a phone and dialed a number. "Captain Brown, I just heard the statement on the radio" Phil said, the noise of the bus in the background.

"What is your team's progress on infiltrating the warehouse?" Brown asked.

"The mission has begun and is still in progress" Phil said confidently.

"Good, because you won't be getting any police backup since another issue has arose" Brown said.

"What else is happening out there?" Phil asked, surprised.

"It seems many of the thugs from different gangs around the city are causing havoc in the center of the city" Brown said. "Full police attention is needed there, as they have begun taking hostages".

"Does the public know about that or Cooper's involvement?" Phil asked.

"No and I think we should keep it that way" Brown said. "The public knowing that a long time police chief is responsible for the events of the night would not be good for our reputation. We should wait until this mess has been cleaned up to reveal the truth".

"I agree" Phil concurred. "My group is currently on the way to stop a situation at my old orphanage. After that we are all headed to assist the group at the warehouse".

"I'm gearing up to lead my men into the fight" Brown said. "This is the last you will hear from me for a while. Complete your objectives, no matter the cost. Free the kidnapped teens, destroy the equipment you see at lab and lastly, kill Cooper or any other hostile members of 781. Any objections Phil?"

"Consider it done" Phil said in a serious tone before hanging up.

Back in the room with the TV, the two sat around bored. "Jeez, I wonder when my sister will get back home" Ikki Adachi said, followed by a yawn.

"You and me both" Jelani Adeen said, pushing one of his short raven black dreadlocks out of his face. "I hope you're alright, Zola" Jelani said, staring at the crescent moon shaped scar on his hand.

"You shouldn't worry so much Lani" the strawberry blond haired boy with shining green eyes said. "Zola's smart. She'll be fine".

"Yeah but she's not streetwise at all" Lani said. "She wouldn't see a bad situation until it's too late. Shouldn't you be worried about Korina?"

"No, she should be fine, with all that kendo training under her belt" Ikki proclaimed. "She's much better at that stuff then I am".

Suddenly, Lani's phone rang. It was a text from a member of the Astral gang, a peaceful gang that he and his sister were a part of. The Astral gang spread positive messages through graffiti and other questionable means. "Ikki, I have to go" Lani said, heading for the door.

Ikki grabbed Lani's arm. "Come on, let me come with you" Ikki said.

"This is gang business that might be dangerous" Lani said back at the boy who looked disappointed. "Besides, wouldn't your parents be upset?"

"They don't keep an eye on us ever" Ikki said, grabbing a wooden booken sword from the closet. "Besides, it wouldn't be fun if it wasn't dangerous. I can handle myself, so let me come along!"

Lani sighed and turned towards the door. "Fine, you can come" he said hesitantly. "Just don't expect me to bail you out".

15 Minutes Later The Shopping District

Lani and Ikki had run into no problems so far, reaching their destination. The gang hideout was deserted and Ikki went upstairs to grab some paperwork that the gang didn't want destroyed by the chaos. Ikki looked around out some of the window when he saw a fire burning a few blocks away. Ikki ran up the stairs and found Lani who was just headed down them. "Lani, there's a fire a few blocks away" the panicked boy said. "We have to go and see if anyone needs help!"

"We aren't fire fighters or heroes Ikki" Lani said sternly. "We have no business going over there".

"I'm going whether you want me to or not!" Ikki said, bolting out of the house towards the raging inferno.

Lani let out a deep sigh. "I need to remind myself not to bring him next time" he said to himself before turning to walk home. However, doubt crept into his mind. "Dammit… Korina will kill me if she finds out anything happened to her precious little brother" he said as he turned around and followed Ikki.

However Lani caught up with Ikki much sooner than expected, as Ikki was staring blankly at what he was seeing. Lani was going to see if Ikki was alright, but then his heart stopped to. In the middle of the street ahead they saw Ikki's sister with a katana against another girl's neck…

Elsewhere

The old rickety bus pulled up near its destination, an orphanage Phil knew all too well. "I'm going to save the kids from being kidnapped" Phil said.

"I'm coming too" Lane said, smiling to Phil as stepped off the bus as well.

"So that means Sora, Layla, Rexen, Maris and I will take the bus to the warehouse and help evacuate the kidnapped right?" Alistar asked, about shut the bus door.

"I'm going on my own" Maris said, catching the bus door.

"Maris what are you thinking?" Phil snapped. "I thought you were the one who said less than thirty minutes ago that Cooper may be hunting for you. You have to stay with people who can protect you."

"I don't need babysitting" Maris said back coldly. "Besides if your big plan works all of Cooper's and police group 781's secrets may be destroyed. This is my only chance to find out the truth as to why I was being tortured the day you found me".

"Use your head Maris" Phil yelled louder as the rest stared on at the argument. "You will be going right where Cooper wants you to. And some secrets are better to not knowing, trust me".

"You can't pretend to understand where I'm coming from!" Maris said, her voice rising to a level rarely heard from her. "I know nothing about my life before that day other than a short document with some notes scribbled on it! I want to know the truth as to why I was chosen by him and not someone else. You're not going to stop me".

Phil put a hand on Maris' shoulder. "Just trust me, ok" Phil said as the breeze whipped his hair around. "Calm down and get back onto the bus. My friends could use your help".

Out of nowhere, Maris punched Phil in the head, causing him to fall back against the bus. Maris drew her knife and stood over Phil as he got up. "You're going to have to kill me to stop me from finding the truth" Maris said, her deep red eyes glowing with killing intent.

However Maris got rocked by a kick to the head. As she fell, Lane drew her saber and slashed Maris in the face on her cheek. Lane then jumped on top of Maris and repeatedly punched her in the face as tears flowed out of Lane's eyes. Phil sprang up and pulled Lane off of Maris as the former caught her breath, blood still on her hands. Maris slowly stood up, multiple bruises on her face as Lane glared furiously at the black haired girl.

"If you want to find out this secret so bad, go do it you ungrateful bitch!" Lane screamed as Phil wrapped an arm around her waist to calm her and keep the two girls from fighting further. "You have no idea about how much this man has done for you. He took you in and treated you like family when he didn't even have to. You think your sob story is sad? Half the sad tales I find out about from Phil are more heartbreaking then yours."

"Lane…" Phil murmured.

"Get lost!" Lane shouted. "I won't let you cause any more pain or trouble to him, because he doesn't deserve you".

Without a word Maris got up, wrapped her still bleeding wound with a torn off piece of her shirt and ran off, climbing to the rooftops.

"Are you ok Phil" Lane asked with a concerned look at Phil whose head was hung in sadness.

"I tried everything I could to try to give her a normal life and a normal family" Phil said. "But in the end it all went wrong".

"Don't worry about her, I'm still here for you" Lane said, hugging Phil now. "You did everything you could for her, so don't blame yourself".

Phil turned back to the bus and Alistar. "You guys should get going" Phil said, his grin returning to his face. "Those prisoners aren't going to save themselves".

"Alright, we're off then mate" Alistar said, closing the bus door and driving away.

"I kind of feel bad for the lad with the whole Maris thing" Alistar said as he drove towards the warehouse address Phil gave him. "But then again, I'm jealous of Phil for having someone like Lane".

"Shouldn't you be focused on getting to the warehouse and saving your sister?" Layla asked, now back in to co-pilots chair.

"Oh right… right" Alistar said, snapping back to the moment. "Have to remember why I tagged along and all".

"I don't know much about Phil, having just met him and all, but from what I can tell if I live to be anything like him I'm doing ok" Rexen said, thinking about his new friend. "I hope Alice is sleeping tight because when I see her, I'm going to treat her like Phil treat Lane".

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves Rex" Alistar said jokingly.

"I hope Phil will be ok…" Sora said, her cheeks a bit flushed.

"You ok there… um… its Sora right?" Rexen asked, seeing Sora acting weird.

"Yes, yes everything's fine" Sora said, startled by the interruption of her thoughts.

"So how do you know Phil and the gang" Rexen asked.

"I've been Phil's best friend since our orphanage days" Sora said calm now.

"Wait, Phil's an orphan?" Rexen exclaimed. "Tell me more about you guys…"

The bus rushed down the highway towards the warehouse as Rexen became more acquainted with everyone.

Cooper's Warehouse Base

Zola ran through the hallways of the warehouse, being closely trailed by her unexpected new ally. Behind her Ramon sneaked a few stares at Zola's underwear from under her skirt as she ran. Suddenly Zola stopped and slapped Ramon in the face. "You were staring up my skirt!" she said furiously.

"No I wasn't" Ramon said, blushing a bit.

"I can read your mind because of that stuff they injected into me" Zola said, still mad. "There's no use lying to me. Why did I even ask you to come along in the first place?"

"Because I know the way out of here" Ramon said reluctantly.

"I could just look into your head and get that information" Zola said, realizing there might be no reason to bring this mercenary along.

"You could always use more help getting out of here" Ramon suggested.

"Fine, just don't try anything funny" Zola said.

"The exit is right up ahead!" Ramon yelled. "Let's get you out of here".

The two ran out of the warehouse of the warehouse and searched the parking lot for any car they could use to escape. Suddenly a shot whizzed by Ramon's head.

On the rooftops above, Aito chambered his sniper and aimed back at his target. "I've got two unknowns leaving the compound" Aito said into his headset. "Both well-armed. Engaging now".

"Make the kill" Saya said back. "Take no chances to make sure the mission is not jeopardized".

Back on the ground, the pair was hiding behind a car for cover. Ramon signaled to for Zola to make a run for it and she nodded in compliance. She was about to turn the corner and run when she realized what the boy she just met was about to do. He was planning on sacrificing himself to give her time to escape, yet even though they had just met Zola felt sympathy and guilt.

"Come on now, poke your heads out for me" Aito said, his scope locked on the car the two hid behind. He saw the man pop out and was about to take him down when he saw something he was not expecting. The girl ran around the other end of the car and hugged the man, standing in-between Aito and his line of sight to the man.

"What are you doing?!" Ramon cried as he tried to shake Zola off him. "Get out of her and leave me!"

"You don't deserve that" Zola said, tears rolling down her face. "Sure you have you flaws but deep down I know you're a nice person and you don't deserve to be sacrificed for someone else".

"Zola… I don't know what to say" Ramon said confused.

Aito's finger trembled on the trigger as his body shock from him considering the situation. He didn't know what the right thing to do was. After some deep thought, he decided he didn't have it in him to take the shot.

"The sniper stopped shooting?" Zola asked, breaking the hug.

"Let's book it out of here before he changes his mind" Ramon said, grabbing Zola and pulling her along as he ran away as fast as he could.

Seeing the two go, Aito sighed and though about whether his actions were the right ones to take. However he didn't have much time to think as the headset broke the silence. "I'm going for Cooper" Saya said.

"Wait up Saya!" Aito said. "You don't want to charge in with no backup!"

"Sorry, I'm not going to wait for it" Saya said, his heavy breathing from running heard over the mike. "We can't afford to let him escape again!"

"Saya, listen to me…" Aito said to his friend.

"Sorry Aito, this time I can't" Saya said with a chuckle. "I'm going to take my chance, even if it mean the end of me. If I die, it's been a good run bud".

"Saya, wait" Aito yelled. "I'm coming into the warehouse. I can't let you go alone!"

Aito packed up his gear and rappelled off of the roof before heading into the warehouse…

Shopping District

"Korina… why" Ikki said, his eyes wide and body trembling.

"What is happening…?" Lani said, pinching himself.

After a few moments, Ikki's look changed to a seriousness that was alien to Lani. "That is not my sister" Ikki said brandishing his bokken sword with a tight grip. "I'll beat some sense into her even if it kills me" he said before charging towards the battle without a second thought.

"Ikki wait…" Lani said, reaching out a hand but realizing it was for naught and charging in after him.

A few meters away Korina held up Kimino and prepared to deliver a fatal blow. "Any last words" she asked with a sickening smile stretched across her face.

"How about give me my sister back you monster!" a voice said from behind her that came out of nowhere.

Ikki dashed behind Korina and smashed her in the back with his bokken, causing her to drop Korina. Lani ran right behind Ikki and scooped up Kimino. "I need you guys to buy me a few minutes so I can hide her!" he screamed before running towards his gang hideout with Kimino in his arms.

"Got it" Syth said, running after him.

This left Ikki staring down his sister. "Wake up Korina!" Ikki screamed. "I know this isn't you!"

"My name isn't Korina" said the women with evil intent in her eyes. "Ever since that needle was put on me, that person was dying. I'm Malice! I always will be! And there is nothing you can do".

"Listen to yourself Korina!" Ikki pleaded. "You would never hurt people like you are now".

"Maybe she wouldn't" Malice said. "But I would. I have to thank you though. You saved me the time of hunting down the one thing she wants to protect and hold on to over everything else. Once I get rid of you, she'll be gone for good from my mind".

"I don't want to hurt you" Ikki said, looking down. "But if I have to, I'll have to give a beating I'm sure you will remember!"

Korina or Malice as she was going by now, charged at Ikki who took a defensive stance. The swords of the two met as the three year older Korina gained the upper hand on her younger brother, pushing him back. Eventually Ikki put pushed back hard and Korina dashed towards the retreating Lani. "I'll kill you next" Korina said to Ikki as she dashed pasted.

As he picked himself up, Ikki thought out loud. "Why is she doing this?" he asked himself. "What did she mean when said she was injected?"

Syth turned and saw Korina quickly approaching. "Keep going, I'll stall her" he said turning to Lani who was running as hard as he could.

Syth and Korina clashed blades again. Syth unleashed a flurry of stabs at Korina who quickly sidestepped them and swung low to high with the blade causing Syth to dash back. Korina then went on the offense, lunging at Syth with a stab targeting his chest. Syth quickly dodged to the side and swiped at Korina. Korina had predicted this however and ducked under the slash before sweeping Syth's legs out from under him causing him to tumble to the ground.

Korina lifted her blade up to finish Syth, but it was deflected by Ikki, who had caught up to the two. "I'll deal with you pests once I've eliminated the girl" Korina said, running off towards Lani.

"I hope we gave him enough time" Ikki muttered under his breath.

Lani charged into the old wooden building and bounded up the stairs. He found an attic closet hidden above a ceiling fan in one of the bedrooms and lifted Kimino up, hiding her there. He then bolted out of the house through a side entrance. However, his predator was waiting for him there.

Backing up from her slowly, she closed in on him slowly. As she walked, she waved her sword around rhythmically and licked her lips with a sinister look on her face. Realizing he was in a dead end and there was no more room to retreat, Lani drew a makeshift shank and prepared to make a stand. He took initiative and charged Korina, swiping at her furiously with his weapon as she sidestepped the onslaught. Lani then made a decisive stab towards the side of Korina's neck, but she caught his arm! "My turn" she said.

Korina slice and stabbed at Lani, whose agility kept him from being hit. However Lani lost his balance and fell back, dropping his knife. Korina walked over to Lani and picked him up, putting her sword to his chest. "If you want to live, tell me where she is" she said, her piercing gaze focused on her helpless victim.

Lani spit right in her face. "If I told you, that wouldn't change shit" Lani said, smiling vainly.

"Just die!" Korina said, running Lani through with her sword as blood splattered down to the ground.

When Syth and Ikki reached the alley, Ikki almost threw up from what he saw. Against the wall of the alley was his best friend, a bloody stain in the center of his shirt around a wound and blood painting the wall behind him.

"So who wants to be next?" Korina said in a crazed voice as the blood of her past victim rolled down her face.

Ikki could feel the tears rolling down his face. "Korina, how could you do that to my best friend?" Ikki said, whimpering. "He was your friend too…"

"Don't mourn the loss" Korina said in joking voice. "You'll be joining him soon".

"Snap out of it!" Syth said. "She's not your sister anymore! We have to kill her before she hurts more people".

"If you kill her, I'll kill you" Ikki said as Syth looked surprised. "I know my sister is in there somewhere, and I'm going to get her back".

Suddenly, a mysterious figure appeared behind Ikki and Syth. "Step aside and let me handle her" the mystery man said.

"Wait, I know you" Syth said, trying to match a name to a face. "You're Casper Tapely right?"

"The one and only" the black haired teen said as his black hair was blown in the evening wind.

"If you want to die along with them, be my guest" Korina said as she readied her weapon.

"Let's end this!" Ikki said as all three boys readied their weapons.

Korina charged at Ikki first and the two slashed at each other, their weapons clashing. Ikki's sword, being made of wood, started to splinter and split against Korina's metal katana. However this proved to be advantageous, as Korina's sword got stuck in Ikki's sword and Ikki pried it from her hands.

Korina stumbled backwards and drew her knife. However Syth was right in her face and the two swung at each other with knives. Quickly Syth got the advantage and knocked the knife from Korina's hand. However Korina surprised Syth and kicked him into a wall.

As Korina cowered into the corner, much like a caged feral animal, Casper walked up and pointed a gun at her.

"Wait, don't kill her!" Ikki screamed in panic.

"Fine" Casper said, disappointed. "But let me try to get her back. It's the least I can do".

"What do you mean" Ikki said, puzzled.

"You'll find out soon enough" Casper said cryptically.

Casper picked the battered girl of the ground. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" he asked.

"Screw you" Korina shout in his face as Casper's expressionless expression remained unchanged.

"You know, I was just like you once" Casper said. "I was always selfish and willing to pull the trigger. But that doesn't make you strong. Any two bit thug can pull a trigger. The city is filled with those. A real man can reconcile and live with those whose blood is on their hands. What would your dead brother say?"

"Wait, how do you know… no, why do you think that matters to me" Korina said, the true Korina being drawn out momentarily.

"So tell me, do you want to know how he died?" Casper asked slowly, scaring Ikki.

"What is going on?" Syth said, collecting himself and standing up.

"His name was Tsubane, right?" Casper said, looking at Ikki and Korina. "He spoke so highly of you two before he died".

"Wait, you were there when he died in that car crash a few months ago?" Ikki asked.

With that Casper laughed manically, in a way that invoked more fear then Korina's laugh. "You really bought the car accident story?" Casper said, still with no expression. "I was there because I was the one who killed him".

With that every stared on in shock. "Tsubane… oh god what have I done" Korina said, coming back to her old self as she began to weep.

Casper tossed Korina to the side to let her cry and slowly walked out the alley, still with a cold expression. Ikki grabbed the man and looked him in the eye. "Why the hell would you kill him" Ikki asked angrily.

Casper punched him hard as Ikki tumbled to the ground. "I did it because someone paid me to do it" Casper said, pulling out a cigarette and smoking it. "I had no other motivation. It was just something I had to do to get the drugs I need for my fix".

"You… you monster!" Ikki screamed.

"Maybe I am a monster, or was anyway" Casper said, looking coldly at the boy stirring on the ground. "It was an easy job. All I did was shoot him as he was making a turn at an intersection. The crash covered up all the evidence. But, I've moved on from that life and embraced one of redemption for my past sins".

"That doesn't change anything" Ikki howled. "My best friend is dead, my sister killed a ton of people and now you have the nerve to confess to having killed my brother? I swear you can run all you want, but I'll hunt you down and kill you…"

Casper pointed his pistol at Ikki. "You're in no position to be making threats" Casper said, taking a large puff from his smoke as his ice glare imparted fear into Ikki's heart. "All your life is worth to me… all anyone's life is worth to me is the 45 cents it costs to buy a 9mm bullet. The only reason you're still alive is because you're no killer. Neither is your sister, no matter how hard she pretends to be. I only consider on man my equal, and I swear I'll fight him to the death again one day. If you truly want revenge, find me again when you no longer fear death and have nothing to lose. Then I will fight you knowing you understand what you're doing" Casper finished as he walked away, leaving three distraught teens in the alley.

Ikki got up and went to his sister to comfort her. "I… I… I don't know what I was doing…" Korina tried to say as sirens could be heard approaching the scene…

15 minutes later

"The evidence clearly shows the girl as the one responsible for the murders and arson" one officer said to the other.

"I don't know" the other officer said. "Just from looking at her it doesn't' seem like she's a killer. Maybe Brown will know more. He tends to be good with those individuals with interesting situations".

The two officers walked over to the girl and his brother, putting the girl in handcuffs. "We're going to have to take her in for examination and questioning" an officer said.

"I'll come with her" Ikki said. "She needs me there to be with her" he said, stepping into the police car.

Kimino, who had found her way out of the house, got into the car with them to ride home. However, she glared furiously at Korina for having killed her friends. Thankfully Ikki sat between the two and tried to keep the peace.

"Thank you for your help son" the second officer said to Syth, who was still outside the car. "We are really spread thin… wait was your father Officer Palador?"

"Yeah, I'm his son Syth" Syth said, with a look of sadness in his eyes.

"I'm sorry about what happened last month" the officer said. "He was my good friends in the force. He would always tell stories about you. I'll miss him almost as much as you. You need anything?"

"A ride home would be nice" Syth said, getting into the car next to the siblings. "This night has been way too exciting".

Inside the car, a thought popped into Ikki's mind. "Did you guys collect my friend's body?" he asked with an upset look on his face.

"What body?" the officers said puzzled.

"What?!" everyone in the back said in shock…

A few streets away, a familiar car skidded through a turn. The teen in the lab coat peered back at the fatally injured teen in the back as he sped back to the warehouse. "You have as much potential as your sister, maybe more" the man said. "I've got big plans for you…" he said with a sinister smirk.

The rooftops above

A lone figure stood and observed the scene that transpired, yet felt no sympathy. She was more worried about finding the truth.

"You look like you could use some help" Casper said, climbing up a ladder and walking up behind her.

"Yeah… I suppose I could" Maris said, red eyes filling with regret.

"Is something wrong?" Casper said, putting an arm around the girl who often roamed the night with him.

"I had a falling out with Phil, so there's no going back now" Maris said.

"Why are you sad?" Casper said, showing rare emotion. "I've been begging you to do this forever! You need to be your own person and stop living in his shadow. Why are you so sad about it?"

"I don't feel like talking about it, sorry" Maris said. "I need to find out why I was Cooper's lab rat and the truth about who I was before then".

"That'll be hard, not to mention dangerous" Casper said, stroking his short beard. "We would have to find which hideout Cooper has that information. That could take days…"

"Not necessarily" a hooded figure said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Who are you?!" Casper said, freaked out that someone could sneak up on them without either of the two noticing.

"A friend, at least for now" the white haired girl said as the blue dyed ends of her haired whipped as the wind became more vicious.

"Could you be any more cryptic…" Maris muttered.

"I don't recognize her" Casper started. "That's odd since I know most of the people who work for Cooper or who are higher level thugs. Who do you work for?"

"I don't work for anyone" the strange girl said. "I just like to know information. So of this information may be useful to you in fact. Follow me" she said as she ran jumped to another building.

"I guess we have no choice…" Maris said, shrugging and following.

Casper sighed. "How do I always get wrapped into these wild goose chases" he said as he followed the other two.

Elsewhere

Zola and Ramon ran towards the Astral gang hideout near the shopping district as a concerned look crossed Zola's face. Moments ago she had received a text from the gang's higher ups that her brother had gone missing, not reporting his status on his task at the hideout. When Zola and Ramon arrived at the hideout, they found a police officer being held at gunpoint by thugs. Ramon shot both thugs down with his assault rifle. Zola ran over to the policeman, untying him.

"Thanks for helping me" the policeman said. "They got the jump on me when I was investigating this murder scene".

"It's no problem" Zola said with a cute smile.

"Say, why do kids like you have assault rifles?" the officer asked.

"Let's just say it's been a crazy night for us too" Ramon piped in.

"Any idea of who died here?" Zola asked.

"It's not at the top of my mind" the officer said, rubbing his head. "Some psychopath went on a rampage here and killed about 15 people. If I remember right his first name was Jay something…"

Zola's eyes grew wide with fear. "Please don't tell me it was Jelani…"

"That was it!" the officer said, excited at first for remembering but then somber when he realized what this meant. "The boy's name was Jelani Adeen."

With that, Zola broke down into tears and fell to her knees. Weeping, she violently pounded the ground. Ramon wrapped his arms around Zola and held her tight, letting her cry into his chest while he rubbed her back. If anyone knew how much a death in the family hurt, it was him.

After about thirty minutes Zola finally stopped crying and Ramon began to walk her home, leaving the officer to his work. "I swear one day I'll find his killer' Zola said. "And when I do, I'll pay them back and then so for my loss".

"Those are some harsh words from such a pretty girl" Ramon said seriously. "Trust me as someone who knows, revenge isn't always the answer. Once you slip down onto that path, it is hard to come back".

"Then… how am I supposed to live through this?" Zola asked, the tears flowing again.

"You'll find a way" Ramon said, taking his coat off and wrapping Zola with it. "And if you want me to, I can be there every step of the way to help".

"Thanks Ramon" Zola said blushing as the two walked towards Zola's house.

Cooper's Warehouse Base

"I don't know what to say" Hanniel said, as his eyes shock as he read the information on the screen of the computer in the warehouse's archive room. "Genetic manipulation, kidnapping, extortion, corruption, WMDs… The list goes on and on. He even lied to me about my why I was taken from my town back in Europe".

"I told you it would be worth your time" Yasuga said, wearing a ski mask and thick shades to hide her identity. "You should talk to Cooper and find out his plans. Just don't confront him yet without help".

"Understood" Hanniel said, still giggling at how silly Yasuga looked. "I like the look" he said sarcastically.

"Hey watch who you're calling silly" Yasuga said, playfully punching him. "I'm going to lay low and scout around until anything happens. Text me if you need me".

The two split up as Hanniel walked towards Cooper's office. Hanniel opens the door and finds Cooper behind his desk, observing many monitors observing everything from different areas of the base to the battle between the thugs and the police raging in the center of the city. Cooper looked concerned as he stroked his mustache, sweat dripping down his brow. "So you weren't able to take Phil out of the picture?" Cooper asked as he saw the red headed boy enter the room.

"No, but I do know he was heading north on 40th street" Hanniel said.

Cooper got up and grabbed so keys from a desk. "I think I know where he is going" he said, a serious yet sorrowful look filling his eye.

"Wait, you're going to leave your base at this critical time?" Hanniel said, actually surprised.

"At this stage in the operation, I'm going to have to take a risk" Cooper said. "Most of the 781 members loyal to me are MIA or dead, the combined thug force is losing ground in the city center and there have been reports of test subject escapes already. This is my last chance to strive for my goals".

"What do you need me to do?" Hanniel asked, trying to feign interest.

"I don't need you to do anything anymore, just go home" Cooper said, dread apparent in his glance which surprised Hanniel. "I've done so many terrible things to many people, including you, in order to achieve my goals. I've been wondering whether it has been worth it in the end" he said, looking at a photograph in his wallet.

Hanniel was surprised to hear that from the man he had just found out was a very bad person deep down.

"Actually, there is something you can do" Cooper said. "In order to help my plans and keep more prisoners from trying to escape, I'm having prisoners fight to the death. I want you to go down there and if the people in the cage won't fight, force them to or kill them".

"It will be done then" Hanniel said, faking a smile as both walked out of the office and in different directions. "Looks like I'm going to have to blow my cover…"

Part two coming soon…

Please Review and feel free to PM. This is Lazersword88, signing out!


	16. Note: Timeline and Basic Summary (1-13)

Hi there everyone! I'm happy to see everyone is overall pleased with my work thus far. This chapter will be a note, but it will be helpful in clearing up some continuity questions that some of you guys have been having. This is the order of events as they happen chronologically. This should also serve as a barebones reminder of all the important events that have happened so far. I've also decided to edit the chapter names to make them all just numbers.

If you haven't yet, please read and review my latest chapter.

8 years before Z-day:

Phil meets and becomes best friends with Sora and good friends with Layla while stopping some bullies.

4 years before Z-day:

Chapter 4: Phil and Alistar discuss a disastrous police group 781 mission with Cooper, their boss.

Chapter 5: Phil, Saya, Alistar and Rikio uncover the truth about Cooper's operation and free Maris, who Phil takes in as family. Little is known about Maris or her importance to the project. Zombies are first seen. However they are contained failed test subjects of Cooper's experiments used as a means to kill those who learn too much.

Chapter 6: Phil forms a tentative fatherly bond with Maris.

3 years before Z-day:

Chapter 1: Phil meets and saves Lane, Casper is defeated by Phil.

Chapter 1, 2 and 3: Casper abducted by Maris.

Chapter 2: Rikio saves and befriends Emiko.

Chapter 3: Casper meets Maris who had saved him.

2 years 7 months before Z-day:

Chapter 10: Phil and Lane, save Nina from a gang of thugs. Phil and Lane's close relationship is explored.

Chapter 11: Phil has a dream with many people recognizes dying at the hands of a shadowy figure. Police Chief Brown contacts Phil and gets him, Saya and Sophia for a mission looking into a thug base that could possibly hold valuable information on Cooper's whereabouts. Phil and Sophia have a major falling out and Sophia leaves the group, most likely for good. Phil and Saya, with the help of a teen named Jelani, clear out the base. Phil is reunited with longtime friend Yasuga.

Chapter 12: Sora's life falls apart and she is forced out of her family. She is comforted and helped by Lane and Phil. Phil goes on a jog with a loner rouge he once helped named Taki. Taki spots a mystery girl on the rooftops and goes after her, followed by Phil and eventually Cooper too. A four way brawl ensues, with Phil the victor with some help from Taki. Alice's father is killed in the process, starting her slow decline into madness.

2 ½ years before Z-day:

Chapter 2: Rexen and Phil kill Bradley to save Alice, Sophia targets Layla and Noah.

Chapter 7: Maris saves Noah and Layla from Sophia and some thugs. Sophia attempts to survive after a fatal injury. Phil gets a larger group to meet up at Alistar's house.

Chapter 8: Sora gets Alice to the hospital, meets Maris. Both decide to regroup with Phil and company. Saya and his new partner Aito fail to get information out of a drug dealer about a weapons catch. However, Phil calls and has work for them.

Chapter 9: Cooper's partner in crime known currently only as thee scientist is introduced. He is shown to be working to perfect a virus that unlocks hidden abilities in certain people. Along with a bit of brainwashing and torture, Cooper hopes these lab rats will become operatives for Police group 781. One such test subject Korina succumbs to her inner self doubt and is held captive by her darker emotions. The other, Zola, is resistant to the testing at a degree thus unseen. Korina is sent to try to capture more prisoners. However her instability causes her to go on a killing spree in the shopping district instead. Kimino and 2 of her friends (deceased rejected OCs) were caught in the madness and all seeming lost until a brave new hero emerges from an alley… Zola defeats her inner self doubts and comes out of the torture a strong version of herself. Using newly gained primitive telepathy she befriends a mercenary guard who isn't as bad a guy as he might appear named Ramon. Together they attempt to escape. Aito and Saya meet up with Rikio and Emiko as they start an operation to free the captive prisoners and test subjects Cooper is keeping. Taki slips into the warehouse solo on important business not yet revealed but get sidetrack when he saves a good friend Nina from his school and Alister's precious little sister Akane. Phil, Lane and Rexen are confronted by 781 members Lex, Anders and Stanley on their way to Alistar's house. Eventually they prevail and reach Alistar's house to meet up with Alistar, Maris and Sora. Alistar is devastated by his sister's likely capture. Maris shows signs of a falling out with Phil. The group gets on a bus and responds to a lockdown alert from Phil's old orphanage. (Yeah, shit got real in Chapter 9)

Chapter 13: The scientist and Cooper chat and plot before the scientist leaves on unknown business. In the hospital there is tension between Alice and Noah. Denise, a 781 member and girlfriend of the deceased Bradley attacks the hospital with her thugs. Noah dies at Denise's hand, but she is stopped by Shiori before killing Alice. Alice swears to hunt down every 781 member no what. Shiori bring Denise to the police station, where she is sent to a juvy prison (my other story).

Chapter 14: Please read and review my latest chapter.

3 Months after Z-day: Chapter 1: Phil's dream with Lane.


	17. Chapter 15: Forgone Promises: Part 2

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 back once again to conclude the Cooper arc of my story. This chapter will be part 2 of 3 of the arc's conclusion. Please enjoy reading and don't forget to leave me a nice review to tell me what you think.

I wanted to apologize quickly for the long wait for this. The reason for the holdup is actually two fold. First, I was trying to launch my second H.O.T.D. fan fiction Dead Delinquents which is going well. I know some of you guys already read that story and like it, but if you haven't checked it out already then I would highly recommend doing so. Don't fret, as I will be continuing both stories at about the same rate from here on in. On another note, I tried two separate forays into stories outside of the anime zombie genre, but both were sort of failures in my eyes. A few months back I threw together a short Kingdom Hearts story, hoping it would catch on but it never really did. More recently however, I tried to write a TWEWY OC story and put a good amount of work into it only for it to get 5 views its first day up. I guess I'm really lucky to have found my writing niche in my first story attempts. On that note, I wanted to thank all of my readers, both close and anonymous, for supporting my stories. It means a great deal to me.

Now back to the current matter. The second and probably more important reason for my delay has to do with the endless waves of new characters I receive. I really do appreciate every character I receive for all of my stories and I make sure to analyze them top to bottom before deciding on their status of being in the story. As I've told some of you, this story originally started with just 4 characters (Phil/Lane, Rikio, Alice and Aito) who were the cast of the first H.O.T.D. SYOC that I ever read. However as my writing abilities were above my own expectations and my ideas evolved, more characters were put into the story. For the most part, I enjoyed getting these late comer characters since it challenged my imagination to incorporate them into the story. However, this being the last chapter of the intro arc, I was having a very hard time writing in these last few characters. The ones I had selected were all good characters, but most of them acted in some way just like other characters in the story. So far in these chapters and ongoing I've tried to make sure each of the characters in the story have a unique identity, personality and fighting style that set them apart. This last set of five characters was causing me all sorts of problems in introducing for the previously mentioned reasons. In order to allow me to focus on the existing cast and finally allow me to stop reimagining my universe every time a new character is introduced, the following eight characters will not be appearing in Dancing through Flames.

Tia Lewis/Blake Lewis- PandorasBox12

Riana Sasaki- Plumalchemyst

Alexandra "Alex" Grimm- Ninja Kat Is Stalking You

Daisy Sasori- Cutie Daisy

Nami Ki Lee- Star's-Rain

Sergei Kuznetsov- ponyfanatic126

Miyu Kanno- AcediaPrototype

Again I apologize for telling you all that your characters were accepted or in consideration and now having to revoke that claim. Acedia, Ninja and Pandora all have at least one character in this or my other H.O.T.D. story. However for ponyfanatic, Stars, Cutie and Plumal, the best I can do is give you a rain check for a third H.O.T.D. SYOC I do in the future (trust me, I'm filled to the brim with new ideas). As long as you remind me and your characters are decent, I'll let you in that story as compensation.

That means the final cast for this story is:

Phil Angelo/Lane Easton, Maris- Lazersword88

Rexan Tsuki - rexan tsukino

Casper Tapely- Awesomestprime8

Aito Hakagame- SSJ5 Kiezan

Alice White- Alice White–Pg

Korina Adachi/Ikki Adachi/Emiko Nagasaki- Fairylust

Rikio Hiroshi- RicBP

Alistar Blackwood- Assassin4life

Layla Witherspoon- Patty Loves Giraffes

Sophia Nguyen- AbnormalAzn

Syth Palador-SythOfOrganizationXIII

Saya Korugashi/Kimino Tomokichi- JBOSS1012

Sora Tsukishiro- PandaHeroXD

Zola Adeen/Jelani Adeen- Reviewer98

Nina Flowers-

Ramon Alonzo- giggity090

Yasuga Tsuji/Shiori Tsuchiya- AcediaPrototype

Taki Takeda- The guy who dose stuff

Hanniel Grace- Sylvia Stardust

Mark Kuzen- Keeper of Armageddon

The last new character for this story is Mark Kuzen. That's just because Keeper is an all-around great supporter of my stories. He's even co-writing for Dead Delinquents (still waiting on that co-write offer for your new story Keeps).

So that brings us to 27 characters overall, not including the large number of villain or supporting characters I've created that won't for the most part be included in the main story (speaking of, I make pretty decent villains, so if anyone needs a villain for an OC story PM me). However by the end of this chapter that number will be lower…

Now let's get started…

Picking up from the events of the last chapter Cooper's Warehouse

Saya Korugashi snuck silently through the halls of Cooper's facility, not wanting to raise any alarms or get spotted. This was something that he knew he had to do. Of all the defected members of Police Group 781, he seemed to have the least to lose. No matter how prepared Phil claimed to be when it came to killing Cooper, Saya knew that Phil had Lane to live for and that he might struggle taking the life of the closest person he ever had to a father. Alistar was most concerned with finding his little sister Akane and Emikio wouldn't let Rikio throw himself headfirst into a dangerous situation. As for Hanniel and Yasuga, Saya wasn't sure if they were trustworthy or strong enough to pick a fight with their former leader. Saya felt bad about abandoning Aito, who was his best friend since their childhood together in Japan. But Saya needed to do this alone. Aito was still gaining experience, having only just started to work with Saya on his assignments. And in case anything bad did happen, Saya didn't want Aito to watch him die.

Saya stopped at a corner and leaned against the wall, peering around it. He saw three grunts playing cards. Two of the grunts had their guns in their holsters and the second was showing off by twisting and flipping the gun around. Saya reached around for the silenced AK47 he had strapped to his back and held it in his hands, quickly checking that his mag was full and suppressor was on.

The AK47 was not a gun you could get in the United States since its sale is illegal, but Saya had managed to get one right before he left Japan. He still remembered the night he got it. He was walking home and he saw a home being broken into. He garnered the courage to chase after the gang into the home. However he never expected to be walking into a firefight. Guns started blazing as an older man masterfully starting cutting down the intruders with a traditional Japanese sword. Saya, brave as he is, sprang into action and took a weapon of one of the thugs. Turns out the weapon he took would be the same one he would use for the next few years. As Saya shot his way through the thugs, he burst into a room he heard noise in. Kicking down the door, he saw a woman and her daughter both tied to chairs and guns pointed to their heads. Having to make a split second decision, he decided to save the girl. This was when Saya was humbled by the fact he couldn't always save everyone. The young girl, named Kimino Tomokichi, ran to her mother and then looked to Saya with a look grief that pierced the young man's soul and stays with him to this day. Saya and Aito moved with their families stateside around the same time, with Kimino and her father moving soon thereafter. Whenever Saya saw the young girl around, he always felt like apologizing to her. But he could never garner the heart to.

Saya sprang around the corner, rattling off a few rounds of his automatic rifle. The thug with his gun drawn was down immediately and soon the other two were also dead. Making sure no one heard the gunfire, Saya rounded the corner and raced off to where he thought Cooper might be holed up…

An hour before…

It all just seemed like a normal night for Mark Kuzen in the basement of the police station. Los Angeles, like many major cities throughout the United States, had adopted police groups similar to 781. Mark was a part of this new Los Angeles police group 561 because of his part in a major school riot.

The girl the conflict of the riots surround was in fact Mark's girlfriend June. June had been accused of murder and Mark rallied a group organized by himself and one of his newer friends Phil Angelo. Phil and Lane had been in deep cover a month prior tracking another case, but after they both befriended June they became sympathetic of her plight later. The riot persisted for over a week as a simple stake and picket protest slowly spiraled into a major political and news event. After June had been captured and Mark beaten badly, Phil was forced to negotiate terms and reveal his true intentions. However, with some pleading, Phil and Lane were able to make sure Mark and June weren't jailed. June was sent off to Alaska to live a normal life and Mark was given a recommendation by Phil to join Los Angeles' secret police force.

For the first month of his training, Mark wasn't supposed to leave the police base without permission. However, Mark had snuck out to see his half-sister Maple some nights. She was the one family member he cared about more than anyone else.

The rest of the teenage operatives had fallen asleep, but Mark had stayed up since he couldn't sleep. Mark was paging through things on his phone when he accidentally clicked a news article. He was going to click to go back, but his eyes widened once he saw the title, 'Widespread gang attacks and kidnappings in Philadelphia'. Quickly scanning the details of the news article, Mark dashed to his police chief's door.

Mark saw that the light was still on in the room so he let himself in. The chief took his eyes off of his paperwork and looked at Mark, surprised he was up. "Shouldn't you be in bed with the others?" the man said. "What do you need Mark?"

"I need a way to get to Philadelphia" he said, rushing.

"So you saw the news" the older man said. "It's a bit frightening, isn't it?"

"So do you have anything?" Mark said impatiently.

"I don't think anything I will say will stop you, am I right?" the chief asked with a laugh as he knocked back a glass of scotch bourbon. "So what's so important to you in Philly?"

"I owe someone a favor there and helping resolve this crisis might be a good start" Mark said truthfully.

"Ahh it's that sunnuvabitch Angelo isn't it…" the man began with a laugh.

"Phil, not my step father with that name" Mark said.

"That's right" the old man chuckled. "It only took him less than a month to put our entire force to shame and subsequently start our little program here".

"So… is there any way for me to get there?" Mark asked.

"Well…" the chief muttered as he opened his laptop and browsed around. "There just so happens to be a routine flight test of a supersonic jet from L.A to Philly leaving in 20 minutes. And there might be an empty co-pilot seat for you. Hope you don't get flight sick".

"Welp… this better be worth it Phil…" Mark muttered before leaving the room to gear up as his chief died in laughter.

"Oh and by the way…" the chief said as he left the room. "You'll have double kitchen duty for the next week for this too".

"This just keeps getting better and better…" Mark said, shaking his head…

Philadelphia Outside of the Shopping District Police Station

A lone man walked out of the police station and pulled on his brown half gallon hat. "This has been one hell of a night" Syth said as he walked out of the police station.

All Syth wanted was to save a girl's life, but he had gotten himself involved in something much larger. Mass kidnappings, siblings trying to kill each other and genetic manipulation, it was all over his head. Maybe his partner would understand this all better.

Out of the corner of his eye, Syth saw three shadowy figures running and jumping from roof to roof. What could they be doing?

On the rooftops

Casper and Maris continued to trail behind the white hair Shiori. Maris scanned over to Casper as his blue eyes met her bright red. Casper managed a confident smile as his hair streamed a bit behind him, reassuring Maris as she looked on ahead at the mysterious girl they were following.

Shiori stopped abruptly and turned to the duo as they too stopped. "I want to let you know now that this is a trap" the girl said quietly.

"Then why are you leading us to it?!" Casper barked, baffled by the smaller girls sudden confession.

"The reason is that if you can survive this trap, you will find the answers you are looking for" Shiori said, eerily devoid of emotion.

"How do you know all of this?" Maris asked, the night casting shadows on her puzzled facial features.

"Let's just say I keep my ear to the ground" Shiori said with the slightest of smirks. "You're on your own from here. The building you are looking for is just on the next roof" the mysterious girl said as she jumped down from the roof, using some tarps to bound down at a bearable rate.

"I wonder what that was about…" Casper grumbled.

"It's not important" Maris said with a clear focus. "We're going in there and finding what there is to find".

"Do you hear yourself?!" Casper said, grabbing Maris' shoulders and looking at her face to face. "You know there's a trap waiting for you. Do you want to die?!"

"I have to know the whole truth" Maris said, looking away from the taller young man. "I've always felt like there was something missing in the backstory everyone says I have. I won't quit until I find it, no matter what I do. You don't have to come with me if you don't want to…"

"Remember when I first met you?" Casper began. "You helped me realize mistakes that I've made and were there to tell me to change. Now here we are and your about to make a mistake. Be happy with who you are! Don't be shackled by your past. Just be yourself. Now if you decide to go through with this I'll follow you, because I care about you…"

Casper noticed Maris blush and look embarrassed, causing him to step back and blush himself. "No, I didn't mean it like that!" Casper bellowed as he tried to control the embarrassing situation. "You're just one of the few friends I've had in a long time and…"

Casper was surprised as the girl shorter than him hugged him and looked him in the eye. "I know what you mean, so you don't have to explain yourself" Maris said in her fuller voice. "I like having you with me since you're a voice of reason that I need more and more these days. But I have to find out for sure".

"Well, be ready for a hell of a fight" Casper said as the two started again for their nearby objective

Meanwhile

Shiori leaned against the wall of a dark alley as she pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number. "I led them to the trap" she said emotionlessly.

"Very good" Cooper said on the other line. "There is no way they will survive that. That will be one less loose end to tie up once this is over. Cooper out".

As the call turned to static, Shiori dialed a second number. "Hey, did you warn them?" a voice said on the other line.

"Phil, who are you talking to?" Lane's voice rang out from Phil's end.

"A friend" Phil said back. "Anyways, did you warn them?"

"I sure did" Shiori said with a bit more emotion than usual. "Although I wasn't able to get the specifics on the trap. If I would have pried too much, Cooper would have been suspicious. How are you doing on your end of the bargain?"

"I have one of my most trusted teammates looking for your older brother now" Phil said confidently. "We believe he is being held where the rest of the test subjects who showed no results and didn't die are kept. This will be over for you soon".

"Thank you so much" Shiori said. "I can't wait to not be extorted by the pig of a man".

"Hey, a promise is a promise" Phil said. "Maybe after this is all over you can keep working with me and my friends. You sure have a talent in espionage".

"I'll pass on the team part" Shiori said with a mild grin. "However I do owe you a few favors and could work from the shadows for you".

"No need for favors" Phil said. "We're friends and friends help each other out".

"You're really my friend" Shiori muttered. "I've never really had many friends…"

"That doesn't matter to me, just be yourself" Phil said. "Now enough with the friendship talk for now, we have business to handle. I want you to do something else for me. I want you to find…"

Elsewhere

Syth continued to walk back towards his home, his hands behind his head and leaning back as he went. This had been a rough day. First his girlfriend breaks up with him. Then a crazy girl almost kills another girl he likes. And now there's a girl with white hair in front of him… Wait what?

Syth jolted to attention and drew his knife as the mysterious girl drew closer. "What do you want with me" he howled as the girl persisted her walking towards him.

"The man I'm working for wants to speak with you" Shiori said, holding out a phone.

"Who the hell is this?" Syth said into the phone.

"Now if only you would have put that much heart into our English debate..."

"Phil Angelo!" Syth said in surprise. "It's good to hear from you and all friend but what the blood hell is going on?"

"Ok, let me fill you in…" Phil began.

10 minutes later…

"So a police chief has gone rouge and is practicing unethical chemical experiments on helpless teens and your group, a rouge faction of the same force, is trying to stop them?" Syth said, a bit bewildered.

"That about sums it up" Phil said as Shiori stood impatiently staring off into space.

"So how do I play into all of this" Syth asked. "Sure I stopped some kidnappings already but what am I supposed to do? I'm only one guy."

"I know about your past as a mercenary, following in your dead father's footsteps and trying to join the police" Phil began. "If all goes well, I could offer you a good foot in the door and you will be able to stop more crime then even an officer. However, for this mission I want you to call in the rest of your mercenary team".

"Well… that might be a problem since all but one of them died in our last mission" Syth said, his eyes down with bad memories. "That's the reason we disbanded. I quit the business and tried to live a normal life while he is scraping by on his own taking any job he can".

"Then you should call him…" Phil pressed.

"It won't end well, I promise you, but if you insist…"

Not too far away…

Ramon walked home alone after dropping the new girl he had met named Zola off at her house. It didn't seem like Zola's parents were home, which was weird being it was this time of the night. As Ramon was leaving Zola ran off with some girl named Kimino who claimed to know about her missing brother. Ramon thought about Zola for a moment. She seemed like a really nice girl. Usually Ramon wouldn't talk to any one person for that long because of his line of work, but he felt a strange attachment to the damsel in distress he had helped to rescue. He had really cared about anyone a ton ever since his parents were murdered by the cartel back where he used to live. Ramon believed that emotion was weakness and what got mercenaries killed, so he usually just hid his inner loneliness behind his perverted antics.

Ramon finally reached his car, a 1991 Mustang. It was nothing special, but it went fast and looked good. Technically he wasn't supposed to be driving yet, but because of a convenient error in the city's driver registry he could get away with it. He quickly pulled out his phone as he sped down the vacant city blocks. The photo in the background was of five mercenaries with their equipment, standing next to each other with wide smiles and laughter. Only two of the people in the picture were still alive, one being Ramon. The other was a young man named Syth Palador. Both Syth and Ramon had lost their parents in similar ways. However, Syth seemed to believe in some moral sense of justice that Ramon never believed in. So when more than half the team died that day, Syth and Ramon went their separate ways and vowed that the next time they see one another it would be a life or death battle.

Suddenly Ramon's phone rang. Ramon's finger hovered over the answer call button as he saw it was Syth calling him. "What the heck does he want?" Ramon said angrily. If Syth was calling him even after everything that had happened, it must be important.

"What do you need, you punk?" Ramon said, answering the call.

"Well good to hear from you too" Syth said in kidding tone.

"I'll hang up now if this doesn't become important" Ramon said.

"I need your help for a job" Syth said, more serious now.

"What makes you think I'll help you?" Ramon said, about to hang up.

"It'll be worth it, trust me" Syth said with a slight laugh. "Meet me at West 14th street in 10 minutes or I'm leaving without you".

"This better be worth the trouble…" Ramon said as he floored the gas and sped through the empty blocks…

Basement of Cooper's Warehouse

Bloody footprints led to a now locked door as the bodies of a dozen disabled or deceased mercenary guards lay limp against the thin hallway walls. Inside the room Yasuga sat in a chair in front of a large lab computer, her fingers frantically typing as she tried to hack into the computer's memory. She thought Phil might want to know some of the information that Cooper and his highest subordinates had entered into it. Also interesting was that there was another door beyond this laboratory computer room, but it had a weird lock mechanism that Yasuga was still trying to figure out.

"He ought to known what I've found so far" Yasuga said with a soft smile as she sent him a text…

5 Blocks from the City Orphanage

"You're the best boyfriend ever!" Lane said, with a wide smile across her face and hands outstretched.

"You know this a horrible time for a piggyback ride…" Phil muttered. "Someone could come and try to kill us at any moment".

"Then I'd just jump off your back and stab them" Lane said with a laugh. "What are you not man enough to carry me?"

"No it's not that, I just thought girls your age don't really find this stuff fun anymore" Phil said, with a heckling smile.

"Oh stop you're whining and let a girl have her fun!" Lane said. "My dad used to do this all the time with me".

"I bet he never did this!" Phil said smiling as he started sprinting with her on his back.

"Ahh, let me down!" Lane screamed, hanging onto Phil's shoulders for dear life.

Phil let Lane down and they continued walking the last few blocks to their destination. "So why are we going to the orphanage?" Lane asked. "I mean sure, it's being attacked by the kidnapers. But shouldn't we be taking down Cooper first?"

"While we are going to orphanage, our number one priority isn't saving the kids" Phil said. "That's just something we can do while we're there. Do you remember the lab notes that from Cooper's old lab a year and a half ago?"

"Yeah wasn't that when you first pulled Maris from that lab?" Lane said. "Those notes were encrypted right?"

"Right on" Phil said, nodding to Lane. "There's more to the orphanage then you would think. Let's just say Alistar and I spent some time making additions. You'll see soon enough".

Phil's phone buzzed and he flipped it open. "Yasuga was able to convince Hanniel to join us and she's at Cooper's base right now decrypting their main computer".

"You might want to forward that to everyone else just so those two don't get hurt by friendly fire" Lane said. "Then please put away your phone and hold my hand or something. You've got to remember who your girlfriend is after all".

"I knew I could count on you to be all noisy and protective" Phil said. "Don't worry, I'm dating you and you alone".

"That's what I like to hear" Lane said, with a soft smile that always gave Phil butterflies.

As Phil and Lane made it to the entrance, an unexpected figure emerged from the gate. A long dark blue haired girl dressed in a traditional Japanese school uniform walked in front of them. She drew a long traditional Japanese sword as her deep blue eyes and the steel of her blade glistened in the moonlight, inviting a challenge…

A house near the Shopping District

"… and so when the four of us got into the police car, we noticed that your brother's body was gone" Kimino finished as Zola continued to cry.

"What kind of sicko took him?" Zola muttered as Kimino wrapped an arm around her to try to comfort her. "I just want to know if he's dead or not for sure so we can give him what he deserves. Sorry if I'm keeping you up".

"Well, it's not like I'm going to get much sleep after almost being killed" Kimino said wide eyed.

"How's your dad been?" Zola said, scanning around Kimino's room. There were various gymnastic metals hung on the lamp shades and wall hooks around the room. On top of one of the dressers was a picture of Kimino and her parents from back in Japan. She missed her mother.

"He's off teaching kendo classes right now" Kimino said. "I could never really get into kendo myself. I've always been more of a gymnast. You do any sports there bookworm?"

"No, not really" Zola replied, pushing her reading glasses up her slightly freckled nose. "The only time I played sports was when I was with my brother…"

With that Zola started to cry again as Kimino regretted bringing up her missing brother again. "Here, let me grab some warm tea" Kimino said, winking back at Zola. "It always seems to help me forget my problems".

However as Kimino walked down the stairs to get the tea, gunshots rang out in the street. Thugs and criminals fed the pursuing police, ducking into alleys and spraying wildly with automatic weapons. Police marksmen carefully lined up shots from behind the cover of men wielding riot shields. One such thug popped out of an alley at the wrong time and was shot in the shoulder. Desperate, he kicked in the door to Kimino's house and quickly closed it to hide. In the chaos, Kimino scrambled back to her bedroom where Zola was already pressed against a wall. However, the thug noticed one of Kimino's heavy footsteps and slowly started to walk up the stairs after them.

Kimino picked up her wooden staff and handed Zola a matching one. Quietly, Kimino signaled for Zola to hide in the closet and Kimino hid herself under her bed. They had hid themselves not a moment too soon, as the door to the bedroom burst open. The wounded thug breathed heavily and looked all around the room for the noise he heard. As he approached the bed Kimino swept his feet out from under him, causing him to fall hard on his back. Kimino jumped on top of him and started punching him in the face as hard as she could. However the thug drew a pistol and pointed it at Kimino. When Zola saw this, she jumped out of the closet and beat the man's head with her staff until he was unconscious.

Zola and Kimino dragged the lifeless body down the stairs and threw it out the door for the police to find. Closing the door again, Zola and Kimino breathed a sigh of relief. That was until they realized the house was a mess now. "Oh god my dad's going to kill me when he finds this mess…" Kimino said, shuddering.

"Hey, I'm here to help too" Zola said.

"Really?" Kimino asked. "It's not your house or your mess. You don't have to help".

"Hey we're friends right?" Zola said with a smile. "Of course I'll help…"

Outside of Cooper's Warehouse

"It's about time we got here…" Alistar said, scratching the back of his dirty blond hair.

"Well if you didn't make all the wrong turns…" Layla said quietly.

"Shut it you tart!" Alistar responded as he hoped out of the bus.

"Jeeez why are you so mean sometimes" Layla said, shifting her long black hair back into place. "Is he always like this?" Layla asked her longtime friend walking to the bus door.

"He can get super uncooperative when he gets serious about something" Sora said, resting her crossbow firmly on her shoulder. "You'll get used to it".

"Where are his weapons, or is macho man over there going to run in there and wisecrack them to death?" Rexen asked with a laugh.

"Shut your trap until you get rid of that little girl rifle" Alistar said, poking fun at Rexen's FN FAL he took from the now dead Anders.

"Whoa, hold on" Rexen said. "This here is heavy rifle caliber. I had to kill some pretty hardy people to score these weapons. What the heck are you wielding there tough guy?"

"Well I'm glad you asked" Alister said, his grey eyes lighting up with an excitement usually foreign to them.

Alistar walked back to the back of the bus and popped the rear hatch before pulling out a large black box. Opening it, Alistar pulled out the extent of his arsenal. " This here is my Smith and Wesson Model 500 revolver. The recoil will break your arm, kid".

"I doubt it" Rexen piped in.

"Shut it ya nerd" Alistar barked, rubbing his whiskers. "Here is my M21 sniper rifle. It's super accurate".

"Well no shit" Sora said, not amused. "My crossbow is accurate too".

"Speaking of crossbows, here's mine" Alistar said, grinning even wider.

"Wow! It's so cool" Sora said, her eyes sparkling with eagerness.

"I usually use plastic explosives on my bolts, but it's super expensive to buy those" Alistar drabbled on. Oh here's my machete!"

"How many weapons does a guy need to carry?" Rexen muttered to Layla who just shrugged.

"This one here is my favorite" Alistar said, gleaming with excitement. "Behold my Heirloom Winchester Model 71 Rifle!"

"That's your primary?" Rexen asked, laughing. "I haven't seen a rifle like that since the last spaghetti western I watched!"

"Shut your trap nerd!" Alistar barked. "This here gun drops the baddies in a single shot with its big caliber".

"Are we going to attack this base or not?" Sora asked, looking meanly and intently at Alistar.

"If you're so intent on going there, then go ahead" Alistar began. "I need to prepare myself and make a plan".

"You're really a pain sometimes" Sora said. "Come on Layla, let's go…"

To be concluded in Part 3…

I thought while I work on the rest of this final chapter I would publish what I have to keep viewership up. The final part will be coming soon and is my 100% writing focus until it is completed. Please leave a review with praise, criticism or anything you please. I take the time to read every review. While you're reading this I'm hard at work with the final part, so stay tuned over the next few days. With that said, Lazersword88 out!


	18. Chapter 16: Forgone Promises: Part 3

Hello again everyone! Lazersword88's back here to conclude this first of many arcs of my ongoing story. The updates may come out a bit slower than usual this month due to me taking two summer session courses at college and commuting daily from my home about 30 minutes away. I will have my afternoon time to work on the story whenever I'm not doing homework or hanging with friends. As much as I enjoy writing the stories, my life has to come first.

Now, let's get started on why you all are really here…

Cooper's Warehouse

The shadow of a once proud young woman slouched through the once whit bloodstained hallway leading into the center of Cooper's base. Blood pooled on the floor from the dozen or so thugs that Alice White had slain remorselessly. The only thing she could think about was her father and now her friend Noah dying while she couldn't do a thing. A look of hatred in her cold blue eyes, she walked on as her blood covered machete dragged behind her and made a deafening screech as she went. Down the hall she thought she saw movement. "I will kill everyone responsible… not one 781 member will live through this night…" she murmured with determination as she pushed through the pain of her previous injuries…

Down the Hall

"To your right Rikio!" Emiko yelled out to her companion as she sliced into a grunt's head with her axe.

"I'm on it" Rikio said, fanning the hammer on his revolver to rapidly dispense his six rounds into the chests of the two men Emiko had mentioned. "You're not doing too badly for your first time in the field. But I don't think we should keep drawing all this attention to ourselves".

Emiko smiled back at her boyfriend, being carried away for a moment and contemplating how much better her life had been since she had met Rikio. Her horrible experiences at the hands of her adopted parents only seemed like a distant memory.

The pale girl shivered a bit while remembering those painful three years. From age five to eight she was shackled in a dark basement while her 'parents' beat, burnt, torture and mentally scarred her for life. Her growth was halted, her skin scared and pale, her cheerfulness gone and her naturally colorful hair a dull grey white. If a teacher had not found out the truth, Emiko would most likely not be alive. Even after five years in a mental institution, Emiko still doesn't think she's 100% sane.

However with Rikio as company, Emiko is looking and feeling the best she has in years. She dyed her hair black as to match Rikio's, her skin is a slight bit healthier in color and most of all, she finally has someone cares about her. Even after her trauma, bullies at school would often make fun of her about her reserved and anti-social nature. However the bullying has stopped because most sane people at school fear Rikio. Even though they were both loners, they didn't have to be alone anymore.

With all of the thugs in the room dead, Emiko wiped her brow and quickly glanced at Rikio. However a speedy figure in her peripheral vision drew Emiko's attention. "Rikio look out!" Emiko tried to say but not in time as the masked figure slashed at Rikio, who was only barely able to block the strike with two of his throwing axes.

As Rikio struggled he noticed the mask his assailant wore was the same one he had discarded over six months ago. "How dare you wear that mask!" Rikio said, finding the strength to push the masked assailant away. "Wait, a ponytail? You're a girl?"

"It doesn't matter who I am" the disguised Alice murmured. "All of you 781 scum must die!"

Alice charged at Rikio again and swung rapidly as Rikio strafed to avoid the wild flurry. Emiko charged behind Alice and shoot her revolver. The bullet grazed Alice's side as she retreated, feeling slightly dizzy. "I'll kill you all!" Alice said, this time charging straight for Emiko.

Rikio intercepted the swing of the machete with his axe. However, the wood of the handle broke causing Rikio to get struck hard by the flat side of the blade. Rikio skid across the hallway floor, his other axe sliding away.

Alice continued her charge at Emiko had was no firing of shots as quickly as she could. While not accurate, one hit the center of the machete, chipping it. Another bullet went behind Alice, bounced of a metal portion of the wall of the cheaply made building and ricocheting back to strike a propane tank behind Emiko. The tank erupted into a small inferno and knocked both Emiko and Alice off their feet.

Alice was the first to her feet, as she picked up what was left of her machete and limped towards the still downed Emiko. Emiko quivered in fear on the ground as the all too familiar feeling of deep burns pained her. Alice grabbed up the smaller statured girl and held her above the still simmering flames in the room's corner. "Oh, so you're afraid of fire" Alice said emotionlessly. "Then I'll enjoy watching you burn".

Emiko shook and tried to break free of the masked girl's grasp, but her attempts were futile. She cried her lungs out and tears ran down her face as the fears of her waking nightmares became true.

"I won't let you!" Rikio yelled out, back to his feet.

"If you so much as move the girl dies" Alice said, choking the girl and pointed the machete stub at her head.

"I've only got one chance at this…" Rikio muttered to himself as he reached for his last axe.

Rikio sprung into motion suddenly and threw the axe. Finding it's mark, the axe knocked the machete out of Alice's hands. However, the shock causes Alice to drop Emiko into the flames.

Panicking, Rikio grabbed a fire extinguisher as Emiko cried out in absolute anguish. Swinging it at the defenseless Alice, he knocked her out cold with a brutal bash to the head. The unconscious girl slides into the opposite corner of the room, her mask falling off.

Rikio then uses the extinguisher to put out the fire that was engulfing his girlfriend. With the fire out, Emiko still whimper and cried silently. Rikio sat with her and comforted her with a hug. Though it hurt Emiko a little due to her burnt skin, she thought the affection the usually cold boy showed her was more than worth it. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect you" Rikio said, looking away in shame.

"No, you saved me" Emiko said, bringing her lover in for a short peck on the lips. "Start acting like it".

"Do you know that girl?" Rikio said, motioning to the long blond haired girl who now lay silent against the opposite wall.

"Now that you mention it that does look like…"

"How could you do this to her!" Rexen said, running to Alice's side as Alistar followed slowly behind carrying his half dozen weapons.

"Now Rexen, these two are on our side" Alistar noted. "If you just calmed I'm sure we could sort this out…"

"I'll kill you, you fiends" Rexen said, staring at the duo still conscious.

"It's one thing to threaten me, but no one ever threatens my Emiko and lives!" Rikio said, getting up and picking up two of his axes.

"What the hell are you doing Rexen" Alistar said, trying to diffuse the situation. "He's a bloody killer! He's killed scrubs like you for years! Don't fight him."

"I'm not scared of a woman beater" Rexen said. "I'll make this quick".

"Are you out of your mind?" Alistar howled, realizing nothing he could say at this point could stop the two.

"I hope you've come to terms with whatever your God is" Rikio said, swinging his two axes.

"I won't be the one dying today, and after I'm done with you I'll kill your partner in crime too" Rexen said mockingly.

Rexen drew his newly acquired Fn Fal and began fired as Alistar dragged Emiko and Alice out of harm's way. Pulling the trigger rapidly, Rexen wasn't able to connect on any of his shots due to Rikio's lightning fast movement. As soon as Rexen had dispensed all 20 rounds of his magazine, Rikio charged in and swiped at Rex's chest with an axe. Not thinking much, Rex blocked to strike with his gun. Rikio strafed back and examined the axe, which was now badly cracked.

Rex attempted to load in the next clip, but a piece of the broken axe had gotten into and ruined the internals of his gun and made it useless. "Dammit, I just got this gun…" Rex said tossing it aside, just in time to see and avoid the broken axe that Rikio threw at Rexen.

The axe shattered against the wall, giving each man a single remaining weapon. Rikio brandished his last axe, seeing it was in mint condition. Likewise, Rexen unsheathed his sword and Rikio gawked at its reveal. "Is that Bradley's sword?" Rikio said. "Am I supposed to believe a wimp like you killed him?"

"I killed that coward to protect Alice, the same reason I'm about to kill you!" Rexen said, charging at Rikio with his long two handed blade. Rexen stabbed and slashed at Rikio, who dodged the strikes like he normally does. Rikio swung horizontally with his axe with a strike that he was sure would finish his overextended foe. However Rexen jumped over the blade, the tips of his shoes mere inches from being severed by the sharp incoming blade. A stunned Rikio barely had the time to avoid a vertical stab, before backing off Rexen a bit.

The two circled each other for a bit. Rikio knew that he was much more tired than his opponent, but also realized that he had to win or he and Emiko would pay the price for it. He would need to get Rexen to drop his guard after an extended exchange and then hit him with a throw of his last axe. This had to work. Rikio charged at Rexen and swung rapidly at the blue haired teen. Throwing everything he had into every strike, Rikio knocked Rexen back closer to the wall. Rikio had Rexen right where he wanted him. In desperation Rexen took a huge diagonal swing at Rikio, causing Rikio to dash back. While still moving, Rikio threw the axe as hard as he could for Rexen's center mass.

However, the unexpected happened. Without even seeing the axe, Rexen raised his arms and flicked his wrist down at an almost impossible angle to deflect the axe with seemingly no effort. As Rikio, Emiko and Alistar all looked on stunned, Rexen dashed in quicker than before and delivered a massive diagonal slash to Rikio's chest. Doubling over in pain, Rikio fell to his knees and felt the warm blood starting to seep from his chest.

Rexen walked over to his downed foe and raised his sword to execute him. "Maybe you shouldn't have attacked her" Rexen said. "Go burn in hell for me".

"No!" Emiko said, crawling in front of Rikio. "Please don't! Alice attacked us first."

"Why would I believe that?" Rexen said. "I'll kill both of you together now".

As Rexen raised his blade to impale them both, Emiko's clenched onto her boyfriend tightly in fear as Rikio softly rubbed the back of her head, giving her a false sense that everything would be fine as she cried.

As Rexen was about to finish them, a hand stopped his hand and a gun was pressed to his head.

"If you kill those two Phil, the others and I will hunt you down to return the favor" Alistar said with a dreadfully serious expression. "Now put that sword away before bust your head like a dropped watermelon".

"Fine…" Rexen growled as he sheathed his sword.

"Now help me get them back to the bus…" Alistar commanded.

15 minutes later Alistar's old bus

"Let's get going" Rexen said, the two boys having just loaded their three wounded allies into the bus.

"I think you need to step outside for a minute…" Alistar said.

"Why?" Rexen asked, puzzled. "We need to get them some help…"

"I said, get out of the van, now!" Alistar said, pulling out his revolver and pressing it to Rexen's head.

"Whoa, I'm on your side!" Rexen exclaimed, stepping out into the vacant lot. "We can just talk this out and…"

"This isn't a bloody conversation dammit" Alistar said, dragging Alice's lifeless body out of the bus and violently dropping it to the ground. "I'll do the talking".

"Hey, don't throw her around like that!" Rexen yelled.

"Shut it!" Alistar barked. "One more outburst like that and I'll put a bullet in her head" Alistar said as he primed his gun.

"Put the damn gun away" Rexen pleaded. "What the hell do you want to know?"

"Let me make myself crystal clear…" Alistar said. "I couldn't gave a crap about you or your little girly friend and whether you live or die. Every minute I spend in this parking lot with you is a moment I'm not rescuing my sister. If I catch you in a lie once, she dies. If you lie to me twice, you die. I've killed dozens of people before, so don't think I won't do it".

"Please stop" Rexen said, pleading as tears ran down his face. "Why are you doing this?"

"Good then, I'm glad we're on the same page" Alistar said, his weapon still pointed at Alice's head. "Who do you work for?"

"I don't know what you're saying" Rexen pleaded.

"I just watched you take down a professionally trained police operative" Alistar said. "If you were just an average everyday man, he would have killed you quickly even if you were lucky. I'll ask again, who are you working for? Why are you here? I want to hear everything. Keep in my mind this girl's life rides on this answer".

"I…" Rexen struggled to begin, staring over at Alice who was breathing peacefully as if nothing was amiss. "I have lived in the states, Japan and Germany for extended periods during my life. While I was in Germany, I took part in some paramilitary and militia groups. Once I realized the wrong the groups were doing I cut all ties with them, but the training I gained still stays with me. I swear it on my life. Just don't kill Alice! Please!"

Alistar unprimed the gun and pointed it away from Alice. "Very well, that's a good start" Alistar began as he walked towards Rexen. "I'll keep you alive for now since Phil seems to trust you".

"Thank you so…" Rexen began before getting rocked by a hard right hook from Alistar which knocked him unconscious.

"However, I don't trust you enough to risk my sister's life" Alistar said. "Now where was I? Ah, getting this four injured fighters to the hospital"…

That's all for tonight folks. Sorry I have to keep dividing this last chapter up. A lot has to still happen before I can get to Z day. I'm going to shoot for an update to this story every other day. Like I said above I'm going to summer session so I do have a bit of work to do. However, I found a peaceful corner seat in the library where I can concentrate on my writing. This chapter is the product of the afternoons work. I'll try to get a 2k word segment done every day, alternating between this story and my other fic. I just think you guys would rather see what I have when I have it rather than me holding on to completed work.

Please leave me a detailed review. I take the time to read every review sent and take its contents to heart. Until next time, Lazersword88 hitting the hay!


	19. Chapter 17: Forgone Promises: Part 4

Hey there everyone, Lazersword88 back with the next segment of this final part of the pre-story. I want to make sure I don't rush myself and that I fully capture each character and event before I rush into Z-day. This segment may be a bit on the shorter side and that is because Keeper of the Fallen (formerly Armageddon) wants me to do a segment for his story, which I'm co-writing for. Anyway guys and gals, enjoy and please remember to leave a review with what you think of all this craziness.

Storage Closet Cooper's Warehouse

"Is the coast clear yet?" Nina asked, filled to the brim with enthusiasm and energy.

"I think so, but could you quiet down" Taki complained, pushing his rectangle glasses to the brim of his nose.

"I'm scared… I want my brother" Akane bellowed as Taki tried to contain his annoyance.

"We'll get you to him, I promise" Nina said.

Taki grumbled to himself. He'd been so eager to take on some true work in the field under Phil, since he had slightly more respect for him then he did for most. When he thought about what he might be doing on his first mission, he had thought he might be good at espionage or be assigned to an awesome team. Instead here he was, having to babysit one girl who thought they were best friends or something and another who would never shut her yap about her brother. He just wanted to get this over with.

"Ok, here's the plan" Taki began. "There's a fire exit just out of this room and down the hall. We're going to make a break for it. If we run into anything on the way, I want you two to keep running. I'll take the guards".

"Wow Taki, you're so smart" Nina said, literally bouncing about.

"On my mark, 3…2…1… now!" Taki said as they busted out of the closet.

Much to Taki's surprise, the guards and thugs didn't seem to take much notice to all the sudden noise. The hallway was completely clear, much to Taki's surprise. The glasses wearing teen smiled at how easy it was getting to his exit. It was enough trouble for him to have to watch over these two non-combatant girls anyway.

Taki, Nina and Akane reached their final goal, a first floor fire exit. "Yay, we're free to go!" Nina yelled out so loud Taki had to cover her mouth.

"We aren't home free yet" Taki said, his hands slowly pressed against the door.

Taki opened the escape and was surprised to find there was a man standing directly outside, smoking a cigarette. Turning to the trio, the man pointed a revolver at Taki. "Where do you think you're going" the blond haired man said with a wicked smile.

Taki charged at the man with one of his many knives while Nina and Akane made a break for it. The blond haired man stood in place as Taki charged in to run his knife through the man's head. As Taki slashed downward with his knife his blade was abruptly stopped. "What the…" Taki said, taken aback by what he saw.

The man had caught his blade between two of his fingers! "Pathetic…" the blond haired man muttered before delivering a devastating uppercut to Taki's chest. The uppercut was followed up with a haymaker which was then followed by a crushing knee. Taki felt the pain of his ribs snapping from the sheer force of the strikes. "Who… is this guy?" Taki said in a daze while he tried to get up.

"Oh, you didn't know?" the blond haired man said. "I'm Laz Richards, the first ever member of Police Group 781 and the first ever experimental success of the Y virus program. I'm a God compared to you. Now then, let's take care of your friends."

Nina dashed as fast as she could away from the base pulling Akane along behind her. "Whatever you do, don't look back ok?" Nina asked the concerned looking young girl.

"Ok" the girl replied. "When can I see big brother?"

"Very soon" Nina said, her breathing heavy as she ran.

Lazlo aimed his revolver at the escaping duo and squinted his dark blue eyes a bit, taking aim. "You'll miss you know" Taki said, rising to his feet. "Those two are already over 100 meters away".

"Oh will I?" Laz asked, firing a shot.

Suddenly, Nina fell to the ground and she felt a massive pain in her chest. Reaching down to her chest with her hand, she felt the warm blood starting to seep out. "Nina" Akane yelled, running back to the downed girl.

"Go Akane!" Nina howled in a coarse and weak voice. "Get out of here!"

A second bullet was fired, this one grazing Akane's arm. The tiny girl fell to her knees and shrieked in pain. "Fight the pain and run!" Nina said, slowly getting to her own feet and limping over in front of Akane.

"But what about you?" Akane said, now in tears as a third bullet struck Nina's leg and sent her to her knees.

"Just run and don't look back!" Nina said, now coughing up blood.

"Ok…" Akane said as she sprinted away as quickly as she could. She had to find her brother, for those two's sake.

"Dammit, I only got one" Laz said angrily. "Oh well, I might as will make her suffer".

Laz fired his last three shots in quick succession and all of them struck Nina's chest. The brunette finally fell from her knees to the ground, her thoughts slowly receding as the red blood slowly pooled around her.

"I can't believe you didn't even try to stop me!" Laz laughed. "You must be as much a monster as I am".

"I live for the fights and the kills" Taki said. "Who dies along the way is of little consequence to me".

"I like the attitude boy" Laz said. "However the same couldn't be said for your getup. I was hoping that Phil would send someone who could dress and fight better then you to take me on, but instead I got this rubbish. What the hell is with the tuxedo?"

"I just like to keep it classy I guess" Taki said with a shrug.

"It is corny as hell though" Laz barked. "Not to mention unpractical. But if you really want to attend a funeral that badly, I can arrange yours".

"I'd like to see you try" Taki said, taking up stance.

100 meters away Nina lay barely conscious on the cold pavement, her clothes stained by her blood. "I'd only ever tried to be friendly to people…" the young girl muttered, her vision starting to go white. "Why does it have to end this way?"

"It doesn't" a mysterious figure that came out of the blue said. "I can save you. You might not be the person you remember, but if you truly desire to live I can help you".

"The world could always use more kindness and love" Nina murmured. "I want to still be there to spread it around when the time comes".

"Good, then we can help each other" the mysterious man said. "We have to get you to containment before you pass away completely. We need to hurry".

The man lifts up Nina over his shoulders and started to run as Nina's eyes slowly closed…

Taki drew two more knives and gotten in stance. "Oh are knives the way we are fighting now?" Laz asked. "Two can play that game. Make sure not to bore me, ok?"

Laz drew two knives of his own and the two charged straight for each other. Each swiped at each other furiously, but neither of them could land a decisive blow. Taki jumped at Laz and tried to kick him in the air, but Laz quickly dodged under. Taki turned around while still airborne and threw one of his knives at Laz, who wasn't looking in Taki's direction after his duck. Taki was sure the knife would find its mark. However Laz caught the knife and in one fluid motion spun around once and threw the knife back. This time the knife did find its mark and plunged deep into Taki's shoulder. At first Taki winced in pain, but the he grabbed the dagger and pulled it out with a roar.

"Well aren't you the hardy one, for a weakling" Laz scoffed.

"This isn't over…" Taki said, wincing a bit.

"Yes it is" Laz countered. "Whatever fight you put up now is just delaying the inevitable. You couldn't beat me with two arms, so what are you going to do with only one?"

Taki growled in anger and knew he was right. However, for his pride, Taki would not run. Even if it meant he would die, he would rather die honorably in battle than face the disgrace of fleeing. Taki smiled and chuckled at the futility of it all.

"So you were really Cooper's first agent" Taki said. "I bet Phil or the others could kick your ass".

"The others definitely not" Laz said. "But Phil was always a rival of mine back in the day. If he just scraped his pathetic morals, friends and mortality he might have a chance. But he chooses other emotions over power. Those who strive for anything but power are stupid and delusional".

"The why don't you show me this so called power of yours" Taki said with a smile. "So far, you're not the toughest person I've fought. Hell, you're not even in the top five. I think Phil is stronger then you".

"What did you say?" Laz growled.

"Just think for a minute" Taki said with a smile. "If Phil, Rikio, Alistar and the others are as strong as they are without giving up everything they care about, then they have great full potentials. I'd be counting my days if I were you".

"You'll eat those words" Laz snarled.

"Come on then, try me" Taki said.

Laz charged at Taki, who drew all of his knives. Since his last run in with Cooper, Taki learned that he needed to carry more knives. Taki flung a barrage of bladed object in the direction of Laz, who dodged and weaved his way forward through them. Taki kept hold of his last two knives as he charged towards his advancing adversary. Laz swiped first, but his blade was met with one of Taki's. Laz swung a second time but missed when Taki ducked down. While Laz followed through, Taki plunged his other knife into Laz's arm. Laz let out a thunderous roar as he returned the favor by kicking Taki in his already broken ribs.

Taki slid across the pavement and could not return to his feet. He watched as Laz approached him with a knife in hand. Laz pulled the knife out of his arm and Taki watched in amazement as the wound closed up and blood stopped coming out of his arm.

"Regeneration…" Taki muttered. "That's not freaking fair".

"There are no rules in love and war" Laz exclaimed, pulling on some thick black sunglasses despite it being the dead of the night.

Taki watched in horror as Laz twirled his knife as he approached. As Laz got closer, Taki could make out Laz's usually blue eyes glowing a bright orange. "I am the ultimate human being" Laz said as he grew ever so closer to the immobilized Taki. "And very soon, I shall achieve my immortality".

"That's a pretty bland motivation, don't you think" Taki laughed. "Couldn't you use your almighty power to get a girl to like you instead?"

"I carve your face into pieces for that" Laz howled, his pride under attack.

Laz knelt down, about to plunge the knife into Taki's head when his phone rang. Looking at the screen he read it aloud. "King is in check, return to base immediately" Laz read before slamming his phone into the ground and shattering it. "Jesus! Can that old man keep himself out of trouble for ten freaking minutes! I was about to savor this kill and… forget it. I'll be right back, so wait here for me ok?"

Laz plunged his knife into Taki's chest, which caused him to howl. Then Laz turned back to the warehouse base and walked away, leaving Taki to bleed out.

After Laz had left and was out of view Taki slowly crawled away from the warehouse, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Eventually he was able to pull himself up to a golf cart remodeled as a security car parked not far from the warehouse. "This will have to do" Taki said, pulling himself into the seat and flooring it towards the nearest hospital as his vision began to be blurry.

Cooper's Warehouse Basement

98%... 99%... 100%! With a smug smile lining her face, Yasuga pulled out the flash drive that now had a copy of all the classified documents from Cooper's main computer. Now all she had to do was help the others, escape and give this information to Phil…

Suddenly Yasuga heard footsteps heading towards the door. Moving quickly to turn the lights and computer off then hiding under a lab desk in the corner of the room, Yasuga slowed and controlled her breathing.

The door opened and an indistinguishable figure emerged from the outside where the droves of dead guards still lay. The figure appeared to be male and was carrying someone on their back. Yasuga shivered, feeling that this man was looking everywhere for where the intruder might be. After a few seconds of stillness the man walked over to the desk Yasuga hid under. Yasuga thought she was going to be found and had to do her best to not make any scared noises. However instead of being found, Yasuga heard a switch get pulled and something on the other side of the room move. The figure moved to the computer and turned it on before tapping a few keys and walking over to where to shifting sound had been. Pressing something else, the room shifted back to its normal state.

"Shit, that was way too close" Yasuga said, taking off her eye patch for a moment to clean the sweat that was getting in her eyes.

When Yasuga stood up, she saw that the computer now displayed a message which stated that all the data had been deleted. This meant that the data Yasuga had copied might be the last copy of those secret files. "I need to get this to Phil or someone who can interpret all of this" Yasuga said, running out of the still open door to the basement computer room. Pulling out her phone, she texted Phil and asked him where to meet her at…

Is Cooper finally in trouble? Will Laz stop the attackers? Does Laz give a shit? Who has Cooper in so much trouble? What are the rest of the characters doing? Will Lazersword88 ever finish this intro arc? Can we hit 200 reviews before the end of this arc?

That's it for this time everybody, so I hope you enjoyed. I would just like to confirm at this point that neither Jelani nor Nina is completely out of the story. They will come back later, but I won't spoil how. I just don't want JollyRancherPrettyAnime or Reviewer98 to show up at my house or anything.

Anyways leave me a nice review and I'll see everyone next time. Lazersword88, signing out.

*P.S. Next time, we will see the conclusion of Saya's story in this arc.


	20. Chapter 18: Forgone Promises: Part 5

Hello everyone, Lazersword88 back after taking a short break! I felt like I needed to not write for a few days in order to keep up my inspiration for both my stories. Plus this also means that I have time to think about interesting twists and what-if scenarios for my stories, including an awesome one that fits into my plan for the end of this arc. Now I know a lot of you want me to get onto the zombies and honestly so do I. But if I already have a good backstory in place, I can have a more complex plot with better defined characters which will help me continue to produce at the quality you guys expect of me. This will be the 2nd to last chapter of the Cooper Arc, finishing Aito, Layla, Sora, Shiori and Syth's role in this arc. The chapter after this one will be the arc finale, and boy do I have a lot planned for that one. After that I'll have one chapter to bridge the gap from 2 ½ year to z-day to a day before z-day. I hope to define Phil and especially Lane more in that chapter. In the following chapter, we will have our first look inside the high school 1 day before z-day. Then finally, four chapters after this one, we will get some zombies. Alright let's jump right into the story.

Make sure to leave me a review about what you thought. If we could get up to 200 reviews on this chapter, that would be incredible. I'm honored that so many people have taken the time to read this story.

One last thing that you guys may be interested in. This story is closed to OC applications, but there is still one more spot open. I think the cover is getting old, so I'm looking for a new cover. However, I'm no artist, so I thought I'd give you the chance to submit one. Send me your best cover for Dancing through Flames and I'll let your new character into the story. PM me when you are ready to send the cover and I'll give you one of my non-important email addresses. Many (hopefully) will enter, one will win.

Alright, on to the story…

6 years before Z-day City Orphanage

"Are you really going to leave?" a girl with long, braided black hair said coyly as she watched a young man pack up what little belongings he had.

"I've already told you Layla, I have to go and make my own living" a 12 year old Phil Angelo said, closing an old tattered suitcase that he had found somewhere.

"Is this because Sora was adopted?" Layla Witherspoon asked so quietly it was almost inaudible as she sat on Phil's bed and grasped the suitcase in an attempt to get her friend to stay.

"Yeah, her adoption is part of my decision" Phil admitted. "I hope she can find happiness with her new family and maybe make some time for us. I'm going to miss her… Anyways, her adoption made me realize that something wasn't right".

"Were you confused why you haven't been adopted yourself?" Layla asked.

"I was" Phil began. "I think that the front office is not putting me up for adoption".

"Why would they do that?" Layla asked. "Isn't it against the law to do that?"

"I think so" Phil said, sitting down on the bed next to the girl who was four years younger than him. "But I have a feeling the orphanage is keeping me here since I'm the only person to stand up to the bullying problem this place has. I need to find my way in the world by myself since they won't help me".

"Please don't leave" Layla whimpered, tears in her eyes. "You two were the only real friends I have here. If you go too, I'll be so lonely. And what about the bullies? If you're not here to stop them, then who will?"

"Don't worry about being lonely" Phil said with one of his soft smiles as he brushed a stand of his brown curly hair away from his eye with his hand. "I'll come by every week and visit you until I figure out what I'm going to do. Once I figure out what I'm going to do in terms of a place to live, you can come and live with me if you want. I wouldn't mind the company".

"I wouldn't want to be a burden on you" Layla said solemnly. "However, I would like it if you visit".

"As for the bullies, why don't I teach you how to fight?" Phil said.

"I…I'm not sure" Layla said in a frightened voice. "I've never really fought except when I've been cornered. I'm not sure I could stand up for other people".

"Have some faith in yourself silly!" Phil said, playfully messing with Layla's long and neatly braided black hair. "I know you're a quick learner. As long as you have some faith in yourself, I'm sure you can learn. I see you do things like Sora and I all the time, almost to the point where it's eerie".

"Will you stay and teach me?" Layla asked, her huge catlike eyes seeming to pierce into Phil's soul.

"If you want, I can stay for a few more days and teach you until I think you're ready" Phil said.

"Yay! Thanks Phil!" Layla said, giving her friend a tight hug as she smiled innocently.

"You… can let go now" Phil said, tired of being squeezed like a stuffed animal.

"Oh, sorry!" Layla said, giggling…

2 ½ years before Z-day Cooper's Factory

Alistar parked the rickety old school bus back in front of the warehouse. The trip to deposit Rikio, Emiko, Alice and Rexen at the hospital was longer then he thought, since the first hospital he tried to stop at was still recovering from a fire. Getting back out of the car and strapping on all of his weapons again, Alistar turned around when he thought he heard a voice in the distance. When he heard something a second time he slowly turned around curiously, only to be tackled and bear hugged by a girl a fraction of his height. "Big brother Alistar!" the girl cried out.

"I'm here Akane" Alistar said, tears of joy in his eyes again as the relief of seeing his most loved family member unharmed put a smile on his face. "How's my favorite little lass doing?"

"My arm is limp…" Akane said, showing Alistar where the bullet had grazed her.

"Where is the bastard who did this to you!?" Alistar howled. "I'll peel his skin off and make him swallow it whole!"

"He said his name was Lazlo…" Akane started.

"That son of a biscuit!" Alistar exclaimed. "I never liked that wanker, but now he is as good as dead".

"Taki had gotten Nina Flower and I out of the cells they were holding their hostages in, but when we tried to escape this Lazlo guy was waiting for us" Akane began. "Nina and I ran for it, but Nina was shot down".

"What about Taki?" Alistar asked.

"He just stood there and let Lazlo shoot at us" Akane said with a sad expression.

"Then he's as good as dead too" Alistar said. "Come on; let's get you some help for your arm".

15 minutes of going 90mph on city streets later…

"There's not much we can do for her arm" the doctor said. "She may never be able to move her arm again. The nerve endings will cease to function in less than a half an hour".

"Bullshit!" Alistar said as Akane sobbed. "Where is the hospital's supply closet?"

"I'm sorry sir, but that is for hired employees only…" the doctor said.

"I said, where is it?!" Alistar said, whipping out his Smith and Wesson 500 and pressing it to the doctor's head.

"Fifth door down the hall on the right… sir…" the doctor said.

"Good, now come with me" Alistar said, grabbing the man.

10 Minutes Later…

"Are you out of your mind?!" the doctor cried.

"It could work" Alistar exclaimed. "If you create an incision on her arm around the nerve ending, attach the machinery to it and then drill the extension points into her arm she should be able to use her hand again".

"But we don't have enough time!" the doctor howled. "She's already lost a lot of blood and we could kill her if we mess this up. Besides, this only has about a 10 percent chance of success provided everything does go according to plan".

"We're doing it!" Alistar said as his sister stared at them looking scared.

"We won't have the time to sedate her" the doctor said. "If he passes out, then we won't be able to connect the machinery to her nerves".

"Stop stalling!" Alistar said. "We don't have a moment to lose".

As the doctor readied the surgical tools, Alistar lay down on the bed next to his sister. "Is this going to hurt?" Akane asked, with a face full of fear.

"Yes, but I'm here" Alistar said, holding her hand. "Just keep talking and looking at me, alright?"

The doctor propped the young girl's arm up. "Ok..." Akane said, staring into her brothers eyes.

The next fifteen minutes seemed to last for what seemed like an eternity. Akane howled in pain as surgical tools cut into her limp arm and complex machinery was drilled into her arm. The cries of agony only made Alistar hold on to his sister tighter as he cried tears for her pain. Towards the end, Alistar hugged and squeezed Akane as hard as he could in an attempt to keep her conscious.

After the procedure, Alistar lay wide awake next to his now sleeping sister. The only thought on Alistar's mind was whether or not the procedure worked. "I have to go for now" Alistar said, getting up from the bed. "Sleep tight for me, ok?"

"The police will have you arrested for this" the doctor said with a scowl directed at Alistar.

"I don't see how you'd do that, considering I'm with the police" Alistar said before walking out of the room. He had business to settle with Lazlo and Taki…

Cooper's Warehouse

"This is horrible…" Sora muttered to herself as she observed the scene in the room where the teens were held.

The room was dominated by about 30 large steel cages filled to the brink with teens. The cages were so full that there was barely any room to move around in them. The cages were guarded by thugs with long, sharply pointed spear like weapons that were used to keep the prisoners away from the bars.

In the center of the room was a cage that was quite larger than the ones the rest of the prisoners were held in. A half dozen prisoners at a time were taken from the normal cells and injected with a syringe full of strange chemicals. Then the teens would all be thrown in the central cage together and be told to fight each other to the death for the thugs and guard's amusement. Those who refused to fight were either shot by the guards or torn to shreds by the other prisoners. Various pipes, shanks and other weapons sat on the floor of the cage and were covered with the blood of those who had come before them. It was the equivalent of a dog fight, but with humans instead. And it was making Sora sick.

"How could they do this…?" Sora said, peering from behind a wall in the hallway that led into this unholy chamber. "This is just immoral…"

"We need to figure out how to get them out of the cage" Layla said dryly, seemingly unaffected by the carnage that surrounded her.

"First we need to take care of the guards" Sora said, her electric blue eyes gleaming with eagerness. "We should stealthily take them out one at a time with my crossbow…"

"How could you do something like this!" another voice howled from inside the room as Sora and Layla peered back into it.

"Isn't it wonderful Hanniel" one of the thugs said. "The looks on their faces as they dies just fills me with delight".

"You make me sick" Hanniel said, drawing his massive scythe and readying himself.

"You would dare betray Master Cooper's trust after everything he has done for you?" another thug said. "You'll regret betraying us!"

"No… you'll regret the day you made me made!" Hanniel roared as he charged the first thug and ripped through his head with his scythe.

"Let's go help him" Layla said.

"But Layla, do you even know how to fight?" Sora asked caringly. "Don't do something stupid".

"A dollar says I take down more than you" Layla said, racing into the thick of it.

Back in the middle of the fray, Hanniel was surrounded by at least 10 thugs. "Give up and surrender now" a thug said. "Maybe then Cooper might spare you".

"For a while I thought I was free to do what I pleased" Hanniel began. "But really, I was trapped in a cage, just like these poor souls. Today I will bust down this cage of lies!"

Hanniel swung frantically at the thugs, but his scythe got knocked away. A thug was about to plunge a knife into the stunned Hanniel's chest when a crossbow bolt struck the thug in the head and he fell to the floor.

"Need some help?" Sora asked with a smile and a determined look on her face.

"Thanks I guess" Hanniel said slightly ashamed as he picked his weapon up again. "Sora, right?"

"Yeah" Sora said. "Who are you again?"

"The name's Hanniel" Hanniel said. "I've actually been trying to kill Phil Angelo until recently".

"Well, this just got awkward" Sora said. "Mind giving me a lift up to the walkways above us so I can cover you?"

"I've got you covered" Hanniel said with a smirk.

The redheaded teen lifted his scythe flat and Sora jumped onto it. With his enormous strength, he threw Sora up and she climbed onto the walkways above. Hanniel continued to swing away at the thugs with his oversized instrument of death as Sora loosed her flurry of bolts from the walkways above at any who got too close to Hanniel from behind.

Layla picked up a metal pipe that was on the ground and cracked a gangster a good foot taller than her in the back of the head, knocking him out. Another thug charged her with a knife, but she parried the blade and plunged the sharp pipe through the thug's chest before kicking him off.

Sora admired Layla's skill for a moment from above before a thought struck her. "Wait, that's one of Phil's techniques!"

Layla picked up the knife from the thug that she had just downed and ran towards another one. Jumping into the air, she threw the knife with pinpoint accuracy and hit a thug charging Hanniel in the head.

"That one was Maris'!" Sora commented. "Does she learn how to fight by watching other people do it?"

Suddenly, a thug crept up behind Layla and struck her from behind with his metal pipe. As Layla fell to the ground, Sora sprang to attention and shot the thug down with her crossbow. However, a few thugs noticed her from the ground and had started to shoot pistols at her. Sora dived away from the ledge as the bullets peppered the metal walkway. After they stopped firing Sora peered out from behind cover again, only to find a pale green hair girl had ended them with quick stabs to the back of their neck.

"Yasuga?" Sora exclaimed surprised.

The green haired girl jumped off of a wall to the top of a cage before climbing to the walkway. "Do you know where Phil is?" Yasuga asked in a panicked voice. "I know you two are usual with eachother".

"We split up" Sora said. "He's taking care of something important elsewhere".

"I've just hacked this facilities computer files and there is something that he needs to know" Yasuga said. "Can you take me to him?"

"Ok" Sora said with a bold look and a nod. "I'm Sora!"

"Yasuga…" she said with an air of jealously.

Layla and Hanniel had finished up with the guards by the time Sora and Yasuga had gotten back down to the ground floor. Hanniel was breaking off the locks of the cages as the prisoners broke free. "Stop moving and listen up!" Sora yelled as everyone froze in their track. "There is a bus outside the facility, everyone get on it and let's get out of here".

As all the captives flooded out of the room, Sora and Yasuga pulled Layla and Hanniel aside. "We're going to track down Phil" Yasuga said. "We need to get some intel to him. Make sure the captives make it to safety.

"Ok" Layla said as quiet as ever.

"Be careful Yasuga" Hanniel said, trying to hug the pale, skinny girl.

"No, stop" Yasuga said, pushing away. "It's not right".

"How long are you going to keep obsessing over Phil?" Hanniel asked with a growl. "He'll never like you anyway".

"I'd rather him reject me then you be with me" Yasuga said coldly. "You can't get everything you want Hanniel. No one will love you until you understand that".

Yasuga grabbed Sora's arm and walked away, leaving Hanniel with a blank look on his face before he followed Layla.

Layla and Hanniel found Alistar waiting in front of the exit. They barely fit all of the captives on to the bus but they were able to get everyone home and away from the nightmare they had just experienced.

Hanniel sat next to Alistar as he drove. Out of the corner of his eye, Alistar noted the dejected features of Hanniel's face. "Someone break your heart?" Alistar asked.

"Yea" Hanniel replied curtly.

"You're not going to be able to swoon every girl in your life lad" Alistar said with a small laugh.

"I don't get Yasuga though" Hanniel said sourly. "She has endless faith and patience in Phil even though we all know he goes out with the Lane girl".

"Some girls are like that" Alistar said. "If a person is there for you when times are hard and cares for you, it's hard not to love them even if the love is never returned. It's just a fact of life that you have to live with I guess".

"I guess so" Hanniel said as the bus rolled onwards towards the center of the city.

Elsewhere

"Put this on" Yasuga said, throwing Sora a motorcycle helmet.

Sora complied and soon the two teenage girls were flying down the highway with Yasuga driving and Sora holding onto her in back. "Phil means a lot to you, doesn't he?" Yasuga asked.

"Yeah, he's been my oldest friends" Sora says. "He's even letting me live with him in his apartment until I get my life figured out".

"Oh, ok…" Yasuga said as she sighed while blushing a tiny bit as the bike careened down the road towards the city orphanage.

Streets of Philadelphia

"He's not coming, is he?" Shiori asked, the same blank expression on her face as he black cloak and white hair blew in the wind.

"I can't believe Ramon would blow this off" Syth said. "I know he hates me and all but…"

"Will you help me then?" Shiori said.

"It depends on what the job is how much you're paying" the young mercenary said.

"I need your help rescuing my brother" Shiori said. "He's being held at Cooper's secret warehouse".

"Wait, Cooper has a secret warehouse?" Syth asked, his long brown hair swaying behind him. "You want me to infiltrate the base of a police commander?"

"Former police commander" Shiori corrected.

"What's in it for me" Syth asked. "I hate to sound greedy, but it's part of my trade".

"I'll owe you a favor later" Shiori said, gripping her oversized black book tightly. "I don't have the cash to pay you for a job like this".

"And what sort of things can you do for me?" Syth asked.

"I have espionage skills, use your imagination" Shiori said.

"Alright, lead the way"…

Cooper's Warehouse

A ventilation shift was forced open as Shiori and Syth crawled through. Lightly walking along the walkways, Syth observed some guards trying to pile up a few dozen corpses which looked to belong to both guards and prisoners. "What the hell happened here?" Syth whispered as the duo stealthily moved along.

"That's not important, come on" Shiori whispered back.

Popping open a second shaft, the two fell into a room that smelled of death. Inside cells lay corpses that gave off weird smells. Along with the dead were a few of Cooper's living experiments that had horrific alterations or that demonstrated unnerving behavior such as repeatedly clawing at their own skin.

Shiori arrived at a cell with a young man lying across the ground inside the cell. "Morshige…" Shiori called out to the older teen in the cell, but got no response.

"How are we going to open this cell?" Syth asked.

"I have the codes, just hold on one second" Shiori said, observing her lean, tall and dark blue dyed hair brother.

Shiori input the codes and was satisfied to hear a click as the cell unlocked. However, unknown to her, something swiped at her from behind with sharp claws.

"No you don't!" Syth said as he sprang into action at lightning speed and stabbed the other man with his knife through the neck.

Apparently Shiori had inadvertently opened the locks all the test subject's doors. Shiori drew her own knife as she blocked an attack with her oversized book and countered with her own knife.

With the other living experiments down, Syth picked up the teen and the two ran out of the building as fast as they could into the cold night air.

"Thank you again for helping me get my brother back" Shiori said once they reached the two orphan's house. "I promise I'll make it up to you one day".

Shiori grabbed her still unconscious brother and disappeared into her house, leaving Syth to wonder if he would ever get anything for his efforts…

Elsewhere…

The door to the small facility crashed open as Casper and Maris walked in. Maris scanned around the dark room, making it out to be some sort of lab. Aito saw biohazard symbols on some of the equipment. "Watch yourself" Casper said, moving his dark black locks to wipe the sweat off his forehead. "I don't like the looks of this".

The duo wandered further into the room until the saw an object in the corner that was almost as tall as the room and covered by a curtain. Maris hesitantly grips the curtain and pulls it away, only to by shocked and horrified by what she sees.

"Oh my God…" is all that she can mutter as Casper's heart nearly stops at the sight of what's inside the revealed containment tube…

That's all for now! Make sure to review with how you thought I did! Until next time, Lazersword88 signing out!


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